On May 27, Caucasus University hosted a healthcare policy forum titled "The Primary Healthcare System and Its Role in Raising Health Capital." It was dedicated to the results of the state scientific grant for fundamental research (grant FR1 7_1 01) of the Rustaveli National Science Foundation.

The head of the scientific project, Doctor of Medicine, Professor Tengiz Verulava, presented a report on the goals, objectives, results and main achievements of the project.

The project aimed at a comprehensive study of the primary healthcare system in Georgia, to determine its role in the formation of health capital; to identify all the main problems that exist in the process of functioning of primary healthcare in Georgia and hinder its development. 105 Primary Healthcare Effectiveness Indicators developed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information can be used to facilitate primary healthcare policy development and planning, to evaluate its effectiveness, improve quality, and measure results.

The project involved an international collaboration with La Trobe University Department of Public Health (Melbourne, Australia) with its representative, Leila Karim, who works on the quality of medical care and access to primary healthcare. She is the scientific consultant of the project. It should be noted that the Australian experience of the primary healthcare system is recognized worldwide as one of the best.

Tengiz Verulava, a professor at Caucasus University, was selected as an honorary researcher at the same university as a result of his active and productive collaboration with the Department of Public Health at La Trobe University. (Honorary Research Fellow) https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/tverulava/about

Tengiz Verulava's monograph "The Primary Healthcare System and its Role in Raising Health Capital" was published within the project.

See the monograph at the link.

The monograph will be used as a guide for master's and bachelor's courses.

Within the framework of the project, scientific papers were published in international journals:

• Tengiz Verulava, Beka Dangadze. Health Capital and Economic Growth: Evidence from Georgia. The Open Public Health Journal. 2018; 11:401-406. https://benthamopen.com/FULLTEXT/TOPHJ-11-401
• Tengiz Verulava, Revaz Jorbenadze, Beka Dagadze, Ekaterine Eliava. Access to Ambulatory Medicines for the Elderly in Georgia. Home Health Care Management & Practice, 2019; 31(2): 107-112. https://doi.org/10.1177/1084822318806316

• Tengiz Verulava. Health Capital, Primary Health Care and Economic Growth. Eastern Journal of Medicine. 2019; 24 (1): 57 – 62; 

https://eastjmed.org/jvi.aspx?pdir=ejm&plng=eng&un=EJM-35762&look4=

• Tengiz Verulava, Dali Beruashvili, Revaz Jorbenadze, Ekaterine Eliava. Evaluation of patient referrals to family physicians in Georgia. Family Medicine & Primary Care Review 2019; 21(2):180-183; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/fmpcr.2019.84555
• Tengiz Verulava, Beka Dangadze, Revaz Jorbenadze, Ana Lordkipanidze, Leila Karimi, Ekaterine Eliava, Tamar Maglakelidze. The Gatekeeper Model: patient’s view on the role of the family physician. Family Medicine & Primary Care Review. 2020; 22(1): 75–79, doi: https://doi.org/10.5114/fmpcr.2020.92511
• Tengiz Verulava, Revaz Jorbenadze, Leila Karimi. Patients’ perceptions about access to health care and referrals to family physicians in Georgia. Archives of the Balkan Medical Union. 2020; 55(4): 642-650. https://doi.org/10.31688/ABMU.2020.55.4.11

The results of the project were presented at international scientific conferences.