ACCESS field directors present lessons learned in scaling up maternal and newborn health interventions
June 2008
Dr. Pamela Lynam, Jhpiego Country Director for Kenya, Ms. Hannah Gibson, ACCESS-HSSP Chief of Party
in Afghanistan, and Dr. Elizabeth Bocaletti, Health Advisor for ACCESS/Save the Children, discuss laying the policy groundwork for scaling up
interventions.
USAID and the ACCESS Program hosted "A Practical Look at Scaling Up Maternal and Newborn Health Interventions: The ACCESS Experience" on 10 June at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. About one hundred attendees gathered to hear the experiences of ACCESS field representatives from Africa and Asia in scaling up maternal and newborn health interventions, and to discuss technical approaches, including:
- Increasing coverage and improving the quality of skilled birth attendance;
- Expanding prevention of malaria in pregnancy through focused antenatal care;
- Using the community action cycle and home visits to increase the use of healthy maternal and newborn behaviors; and
- Preventing postpartum hemorrhage (PPH).
Dr. Harshad Sanghvi, Jhpiego Vice President and Medical Director, spoke about the necessity—and difficulties—in scaling up adoption of evidence-based practices in maternal health to prevent PPH at home birth. He stressed the fact that the public health community knows what to do to prevent maternal death and disability; however, the challenge lies in consistently and correctly utilizing these practices.
Dr. Alfred Bartlett, of USAID, reinforced these ideas when he presented on "scaling up" versus programming for scale. He discussed the need to involve stakeholders and build broad-based consensus, to gain policy and political support, and to find complementary donor resources and implementing partners.
Dr. John Borrazzo, also of USAID, expanded on these ideas of integration and working collaboratively with other donors. He talked about the growing need to strategically focus USAID's maternal and child health resources by building on other US government investments (such as the Presidential Malaria Initiative) as well as the investments of other international partners.
The presentations generated a lively discussion among participants who shared questions and lessons learned. To view the presentations from the forum, please select from the options below:
Introduction of Interventions: Moving Research into Practice
- Expanding Research to Practice in Bangladesh (164 KB)
Lubana Ahmed, Program Manager, ACCESS/Bangladesh
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Preventing Postpartum Hemorrhage at Homebirth
(339 KB)
Dr. Harshad Sanghvi, Vice President and Medical Director, Jhpiego
Laying the Policy Groundwork for Scale Up
Expansion of Interventions: Taking Interventions to Scale
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Applying a Proven Community Mobilization Model to Support Improved Maternal and Newborn Health Outcomes in Nigeria (184 KB)
Prof. Emmanuel Otolorin, ACCESS/Nigeria Country Director, and Angie Brasington, ACCESS
- Saving Premature and Small Newborns:
Introduction and Expansion of Kangaroo Mother Care Services in Rwanda (160 KB)
Aissatou Lo, Country Director, ACCESS/Rwanda; Mr. Joseph de Graft-Johnson, Community
Interventions Specialist, ACCESS; Winnie Mwebesa, Reproductive Health
Advisor, Save the Children; and Ms. Juliet MacDowell, Senior Program Manager,
ACCESS
- Supporting the Ministry of Health in Tanzania to Scale Up Focused Antenatal Care Nationwide (251 KB)
Ms. Maryjane Lacoste, Country Director, Jhpiego/Tanzania; and Muthoni Kariuki,
Program Manager, Jhpiego/Tanzania
About ACCESS
The ACCESS Program is the U.S. Agency for International Development’s
global program to improve maternal and newborn health. The ACCESS Program works to expand
coverage, access and use of key maternal and newborn health services across a continuum
of care from the household to the hospital—with the aim of making quality health services
accessible for women and newborns.
Jhpiego implements the program in partnership with Save the
Children, Constella Futures, the Academy for Educational Development, the American
College of Nurse-Midwives and IMA World Health.
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