In February, President and CEO Leslie Mancuso, and Dr. Alain Damiba, Senior Vice President of Technical Leadership and Global Programs, visited Guinea where Jhpiego and partners are working in collaboration with the government to strengthen health facilities in four regions and improve access to family planning services. The U.S. Agency for International Development’s global Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP) is funding efforts to build the capacity of Guinean health providers to deliver quality services to women and their families.
Through MCHIP, family planning services and postabortion care have been strengthened and the availability of long-acting contraceptive methods expanded through an integrated service delivery approach. Health care providers also received skills training in emergency obstetric and newborn care to help reduce childbirth-related deaths. A quality improvement and assurance method was introduced to health facilities to improve infection prevention procedures and other key practices. In facilities supported by Jhpiego/MCHIP, the percentage of Guinean women accepting a family planning method after childbirth increased from 30 percent to 70 percent between fiscal years 2011 and 2012.
Here are some highlights:
Between fiscal year (FY) 2011 and FY 2012, Jhpiego/MCHIP expanded its work in family planning from 27 sites to 606 sites. With continued introduction of long-acting and reversible contraceptives at hospitals and high-volume health centers, along with the increase in total number of facilities being supported by the project, clients’ access to a comprehensive mix of contraceptive methods significantly increased. For example,
- New users of family planning methods increased from 14,000 (FY11) to 127,226 (FY12);
- Continuing users identified in health facilities increased from 4,730 (FY11) to 101,067 (FY12).
