This CD-ROM was designed to establish closer ties between investigators and academicians, the health services and the community, through a joint effort to generate knowledge and evaluate the interventions included in the IMCI strategy. The priority operations research studies on IMCI were designed as a tool for accelerating implementation of the strategy. The effort must enlist not only health workers, but also academicians and scientists working on problems and illnesses that affect child health. The primary purpose of the research protocols in this CD-ROM is to offer practical tools for application at the local level, defined as the health services and the community. The use of the protocols will yield greater knowledge about the illnesses and health problems that affect them and facilitate the identification of priority areas to improve the health status of children. In addition, use of these protocols will assist evaluating the impact of the IMCI strategy and provide information to, modify technical and operating standards while underscoring the importance of allocating sufficient resources to expand coverage of the strategy. In launching this effort, the IMCI program considered the importance both of research, as a catalyst for improving the quality of care in the health services, and of the systematic evaluation of the results of the interventions for disease prevention and control. Operations research helps to enhance the role of the health services in generating knowledge and in collective efforts to improve the health of the population.