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Since the 1980s, we’ve supported quality health care for Congolese families.

  • Jhpiego introduced a new capacity-building approach with low-dose, high-frequency, on-site training at 16 facilities, resulting in improved management of normal and complicated deliveries and uptake of immediate postpartum family planning (FP). Among improvements, an average of 40% of postpartum women and 50% of postabortion women accept an FP method prior to leaving the facility. Timely and correct management of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia improved from 30% to 100% and successful resuscitation of newborns improved from 60% to 95%. At the Ministry of Health’s request, this training approach is being used by other large-scale health projects in DRC with technical assistance from Jhpiego.
  • Through the Jhpiego-led TIPTOP project, community implementation of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) helped increase IPTp coverage among pregnant women receiving antenatal care, thereby giving these women more opportunities to receive malaria protection and comprehensive care in pregnancy. From 2018 to 2022, more than 350,000 doses of IPTp were given to pregnant women under direct observation.
  • Jhpiego collaborated with the National Program for Reproductive Health to train 34 provincial trainers and health care workers, culminating in the availability of FP services, including postpartum FP, at 40 health centers and eight hospitals in Tshopo and Bas-Uele provinces. Provincial trainers ensured training of 96 providers and 120 community health workers. Prior to this intervention, FP services were virtually nonexistent in these provinces.
  • Due to Jhpiego’s capacity-building efforts, the national associations of midwives, nurses, pediatricians and obstetricians now have in-house capability to provide and train others to provide essential services in postpartum FP and maternal and newborn health. There is also a model training center in Kinshasa that provides competency-based in-service and pre-service training to providers and medical students

Our Work in DRC

Jhpiego is leading this five-year project, funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to support global health security in DRC in partnership with the Ministry of Health, other governmental institutions and global health security implementing partners. This project is supporting the establishment of a public health emergency management program, including permanent staff, to establish national policies, regulatory/legislative frameworks and guidance documents, and to prepare provincial teams for rapid response to potential outbreaks and other emergencies. It is also assisting in the development and establishment of a National Public Health Institute that will integrate core public health functions including surveillance, public health emergency management, workforce development and the national laboratory system. In addition, the project supports national efforts to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks of COVID-19 and Ebola.

This multi-country project is catalyzing the introduction and adoption pathways for quality-assured drugs to treat postpartum hemorrhage (i.e., heat-stable carbetocin, tranexamic acid and misoprostol) through engagement and coordination with country governments and key stakeholders. The project aims to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity by making sure the right drug is in the right place at the right time for the right indication. Funded by Unitaid, AMPLI-PPHI is led by Jhpiego and supported by consortium partners PATH and the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). In addition to operating in four target countries (the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Kenya and India), an additional 13 other influence countries are benefitting from country and learning exchanges as well as from the sharing of project learning, resources and tools. For more information, please visit the project website.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting this two-year project for Jhpiego to incorporate its low-dose, high-frequency (LDHF) training and mentorship approach for reproductive, maternal and newborn health and family planning into at least three large-scale projects in DRC funded by other donors. In close collaboration these large-scale project partners, Jhpiego is also building the capacity of provincial health departments to integrate the LDHF approach and adapt the model to local needs and priorities. Jhpiego works to create a pool of experts within the provincial health departments to improve supervisor and provider skills and quality of care, while building departments’ capacity to scale up the package of prioritized health interventions across health zones.

Jhpiego provides technical assistance to strengthen quality improvement and leadership and management. This initiative is designed to test and evaluate evidence-based approaches for improving health care provider performance. Under this award, Jhpiego is delivering context-specific technical assistance to support quality improvement and leadership and management strengthening to reinforce national disease responses and strengthened health systems. Jhpiego implements an innovative approach for integrated supportive supervision that includes collaborative improvement, training, a web-enabled supervision checklist and supervision of supervisors to improve integrated health services for underserved populations. Jhpiego also strengthens leadership and management skills among ministry of health staff for quality improvement and improved integrated service delivery in health facilities and communities. The project is being implemented in several African countries, including DRC.