A short course in Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in Disease Control Programmes has kicked off in the Supreme Council of Health in cooperation with the world renowned Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. The two-week course, which gathers experienced health professional working in public health and health interventions, aims to develop skills and experience in the use of up to date tools to plan, monitor and evaluated specific programmes relevant to current work in the health sector. The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has a international reputation for research excellence and a teaching programme attracting students from over 50 countries every year. The course will be delivered under the auspices of LSTM s new Centre for Health in the Eastern Mediterranean which is working with Ministries of Health, Schools of Public health, universities, healthcare organisations, research institutions and other Organisation in the region to help them deliver training, research and technical assistance of international standing. The SCH is currently implementing an ambitious programme "Caring for the Future" to improve the well being of the people of Qatar to establish a vibrant, healthy and productive society for today and for the future. As part of this, the SCH seeks to ensure that its staff are in receipt of the highest quality training available to allow them to provide service of an international standard. To this end, a memorandum of understanding between the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the Supreme Council for Health was signed in March 2012 to provide a framework for co-operation and co-ordination between the two organisations. With their complementary aims of improving healthcare and a shared vision for excellence, the Supreme Council of Health and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine are well suited to work in partnership to help develop a health car system of international standing.