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Report Of The Voucher And Accreditation Evaluation Project Meeting, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team, Population Council Jan 2012

Report Of The Voucher And Accreditation Evaluation Project Meeting, Reproductive Health Vouchers Evaluation Team, Population Council

Reproductive Health

This is a report on a technical advisory meeting that brought together 45 participants from the five country programs being evaluated through the Reproductive Health Voucher and Accreditation (V&A) project, which is implemented by the Population Council with financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This group met for the first time as a newly emerging “voucher community” to learn from the successes and challenges faced in this early growth phase of emerging V&A programs that deliver maternal and reproductive health services. In addition to standardizing the collection of performance and financing metrics, who would use such data …


Kwazulu-Natal Department Of Health Policy And Guidelines For Integrated Ante And Postnatal Care At District Hospital Community Health Centre And Clinic Level, Population Council Jan 2009

Kwazulu-Natal Department Of Health Policy And Guidelines For Integrated Ante And Postnatal Care At District Hospital Community Health Centre And Clinic Level, Population Council

Reproductive Health

A 2006 baseline survey conducted by CARE Kenya indicated that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is widespread throughout Kenya’s North Eastern Province. Other findings revealed that high levels of stigma and gender imbalances are associated with sexual violence and female genital mutilation (FGM) and that a coordinated approach to responding to the service needs of survivors is missing. As noted in this report, there is limited awareness of the legal mechanisms available to survivors. The Population Council’s study in Wajir District ascertained the need for and possible components of an integrated and comprehensive services model that could meet the needs …


Multi-Sectoral Approaches To Preventing Sexual Assault And Domestic Violence: A Collective Force To Stop The Violence, Population Council Jan 2009

Multi-Sectoral Approaches To Preventing Sexual Assault And Domestic Violence: A Collective Force To Stop The Violence, Population Council

Reproductive Health

The Multi-Sectoral Approaches to Preventing Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Symposium took place May 6–7, 2009, in Gauteng, South Africa. The symposium aimed to: increase awareness of sexual assault and domestic violence and its relationship to HIV and AIDS among decision-makers; promote evidence-based programming for practitioners; advocate for increased preventative measures and service delivery around sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the public and private sectors; facilitate networking, strengthen and develop partnerships, and create opportunities for ongoing collaboration between key stakeholders; and inspire a coordinated plan of action for prevention that supports the government’s 365-day plan. South Africa has some …


Taller Regional De Utilización De Resultados De Investigación Operativa Para Incrementar El Acceso, La Calidad E Integración De Los Servicios Anticonceptivos En América Latina Y El Caribe, M. Estela Rivero-Fuentes, Antonieta Martin Jan 2008

Taller Regional De Utilización De Resultados De Investigación Operativa Para Incrementar El Acceso, La Calidad E Integración De Los Servicios Anticonceptivos En América Latina Y El Caribe, M. Estela Rivero-Fuentes, Antonieta Martin

Reproductive Health

En octubre de 2007, el programa Fronteras de la Salud Reproductiva (FRONTERAS) realizó un taller regional de tres días en La Antigua, Guatemala, para difundir los resultados de sus proyectos de investigación operativa. Durante el taller, los participantes escucharon los avances en la metodología anticonceptiva y escucharon las estrategias efectivas que probó FRONTERAS para incrementar el acceso al DIU y la vasectomía; la integración de la planificación familiar con los servicios posparto, postaborto y PTMI. Los investigadores habloaron sobre los resultados de los estudios, los gerentes de los programas explicaron cómo se usaban los instrumentos y se habló de la …


Regional Workshop To Use The Findings From Operations Research To Increase The Access, Quality And Integration Of Contraceptive Services In Latin America And The Caribbean, M. Estela Rivero-Fuentes, Antonieta Martin Jan 2008

Regional Workshop To Use The Findings From Operations Research To Increase The Access, Quality And Integration Of Contraceptive Services In Latin America And The Caribbean, M. Estela Rivero-Fuentes, Antonieta Martin

Reproductive Health

In October 2007, the Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) program held a three-day regional workshop in La Antigua, Guatemala, to disseminate results of its operations research projects. During the workshop, participants received contraceptive technology updates, and learned about effective strategies tested by FRONTIERS to increase access to the IUD and vasectomy; and about integration of family planning with postpartum, postabortion, and PMTCT. Researchers discussed study results, program managers explained how they were used, and practitioners talked about implementing the interventions—a combination of perspectives that successfully transmitted the message that the interventions were not difficult to apply, could have a great …


Developing And Testing Strategies For Increasing Awareness Of The Iud As A Contraceptive Option, Ricardo Vernon, M.E. Khan, Harriet Birungi, Ian Askew, William Stones Jan 2007

Developing And Testing Strategies For Increasing Awareness Of The Iud As A Contraceptive Option, Ricardo Vernon, M.E. Khan, Harriet Birungi, Ian Askew, William Stones

Reproductive Health

A workshop was held in England in 2004 to identify the most promising interventions for increasing access to the IUD and to generate protocols for small-scale operations research projects to be undertaken in selected countries. Participants were academics, policymakers, program staff, and service providers from Bangladesh, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kenya, and Nepal. The workshop objectives were to review international experiences with approaches to increase access to and use of the IUD; identify factors explaining the decline in IUD use in many countries; identify factors favoring client demand for IUD; review barriers to effective IUD service delivery; identify issues of …


Day Of Dialogue On Public Sector Pricing Of Pharmaceutical Products, Population Council Jan 2006

Day Of Dialogue On Public Sector Pricing Of Pharmaceutical Products, Population Council

Formulation/Product Development

For decades, patients, doctors, ethicists, and other interested parties have debated the economics of the pharmaceutical industry. What is the best way to get medications and related products to the people who need them, regardless of their ability to pay? Can prices be lowered without jeopardizing basic research for new drugs? Are pharmaceutical company pricing practices monopolistic? What are the legal and ethical obligations related to drugs developed—partially or fully—with public funds? The Population Council convened a daylong meeting of academics, scientists, representatives from the nonprofit sector, the pharmaceutical industry, foundations, and government donor agencies, and practicing lawyers and doctors. …


Anti-Trafficking Programs In South Asia: Appropriate Activities, Indicators And Evaluation Methodologies, Dale Huntington Jan 2002

Anti-Trafficking Programs In South Asia: Appropriate Activities, Indicators And Evaluation Methodologies, Dale Huntington

Reproductive Health

Throughout South Asia, men, women, boys, and girls are trafficked within their own countries and across international borders against their wills in what is essentially a clandestine slave trade. The Congressional Research Service and the U.S. State Department estimate that between 1 to 2 million people are trafficked each year worldwide with the majority originating in Asia. Root causes include extreme disparities of wealth, increased awareness of job opportunities far from home, pervasive inequality due to caste, class, and gender bias, lack of transparency in regulations governing labor migration, poor enforcement of internationally agreed-upon human rights standards, and the enormous …


Access To Treatment For Hiv/Aids: Report Of A Meeting Of International Experts, Johannes Van Dam, Sherry Hutchinson Jan 2002

Access To Treatment For Hiv/Aids: Report Of A Meeting Of International Experts, Johannes Van Dam, Sherry Hutchinson

HIV and AIDS

As of December 2001, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS is estimated at 40 million, and most live in the developing world. Advances in the development and availability of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs have led to a paradigm shift in most of the industrialized world, where highly active ARV therapy has resulted in a significant reduction in the prevalence of AIDS-related morbidity and mortality. In most of the developing world, however, the focus of national programs and international support continues to be on prevention and care in the absence of ARV treatment. While the moral imperative to provide the best …


Male Circumcision And Hiv Prevention: Directions For Future Research, Johannes Van Dam, Marie Christine Anastasi Jan 2000

Male Circumcision And Hiv Prevention: Directions For Future Research, Johannes Van Dam, Marie Christine Anastasi

HIV and AIDS

A growing body of scientific publications suggests that male circumcision is associated with reduced risk of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, male circumcision is being considered as a potential intervention in the prevention of sexually transmitted HIV infection, even though this procedure has profound cultural implications and carries the risk of complications, and its benefits are realized only many years later. This report presents the findings of a meeting of international researchers, organized by the Horizons Project to explore the programmatic and research implications of the association between male circumcision and HIV prevention. Most studies on male circumcision and …


Report On The International Symposium On Quality Of Care In China, Population Council Jan 2000

Report On The International Symposium On Quality Of Care In China, Population Council

Reproductive Health

In 1995, China’s State Family Planning Commission (SFPC), the governmental agency charged with developing and implementing China’s population policy, issued an official call for the reorientation of the family planning program from a focus on demographic targets to meeting clients’ needs. In support of this reorientation effort, the SFPC selected six rural counties and five urban districts with comparatively good socioeconomic conditions as pilot sites for a quality-of-care experiment. This report provides a summary of an international symposium on quality of care held in Beijing from November 17–19, 1999. The symposium was sponsored by SFPC with the support of the …


Rights, Technology, And Services In Reproductive Health: A Report From A Meeting, Marion Carter, C. Elizabeth Mcgrory Jan 2000

Rights, Technology, And Services In Reproductive Health: A Report From A Meeting, Marion Carter, C. Elizabeth Mcgrory

Reproductive Health

The Population Council’s Robert H. Ebert Program on Critical Issues in Reproductive Health convened a two-day meeting to explore some of the compelling issues at the intersection of technology, services, and rights. Nearly 70 professionals from the research, policy, service delivery, human rights, and advocacy fields came together to grapple with some of the political aspects of reproductive technologies. Participants also discussed how these technologies can facilitate or constrain rights, depending on the interests involved and the particular social, political, and economic contexts in which they are used. This report on the meeting concludes that in order for program managers …


Strengthening The Evaluation And Research Unit Of The Zimbabwe Family Planning Council (1995–1998), Lewis Ndhlovu, Hazel M.B. Dube, Caroline S. Marangwanda Jan 1999

Strengthening The Evaluation And Research Unit Of The Zimbabwe Family Planning Council (1995–1998), Lewis Ndhlovu, Hazel M.B. Dube, Caroline S. Marangwanda

Reproductive Health

The Evaluation and Research Unit (ERU) plays a crucial role in supporting the research activities of the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC). Research activities are conducted in addition to analysis of service statistics and compilation of quarterly and annual reports. With a staff capacity of five and inadequate research skills existing in other units, the ERU finds it difficult to manage and monitor the diverse activities of the organization. To address these problems, a buy-in was signed between the Zimbabwe Government and USAID in May 1995. The objectives were to assist the ZNFPC in conducting operations research studies and …


Seminar On Male Involvement In Reproductive Health In Egypt: Summary Of Research Findings And Future Directions, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab Jan 1998

Seminar On Male Involvement In Reproductive Health In Egypt: Summary Of Research Findings And Future Directions, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab

Reproductive Health

As more work in the area of male involvement in reproductive health (RH) is expected in Egypt, it is important that researchers and donor agencies become aware of existing studies, topics covered, and main research findings so duplication can be avoided. It is also important that policymakers and program managers learn about the results of existing studies so they can use those results in designing more effective policies to increase male involvement in Egypt. To address this need, the Population Council’s ANE OR/TA Project organized a seminar on “Disseminating Results of Research on Male Involvement in Reproductive Health in Egypt” …


Workshop Report: Launching Of The Revised Reproductive Health Policy Guidelines And Standards, Division Of Primary Health Care, Kenya Ministry Of Health Jan 1998

Workshop Report: Launching Of The Revised Reproductive Health Policy Guidelines And Standards, Division Of Primary Health Care, Kenya Ministry Of Health

Reproductive Health

The Government of Kenya recently revised its Policy Guidelines and Standards for family planning (FP) and other reproductive health (RH) services to encourage service providers to undertake a more comprehensive approach to service delivery. Some of the recommendations, especially those relating to the integration of STI/HIV/AIDS services into MCH/FP services, and to safe motherhood, include new practices and procedures. A number of research studies have been conducted in Kenya and elsewhere that provide data pertinent to many of these recommendations, and the Division of Primary Health Care (DPHC) used the results to provide a framework within which the guidelines were …


Advances And Challenges In Postabortion Care Operations Research: Summary Report Of A Global Meeting, Dale Huntington Jan 1998

Advances And Challenges In Postabortion Care Operations Research: Summary Report Of A Global Meeting, Dale Huntington

Reproductive Health

The Global Meeting on Postabortion Care: Advances and Challenges in Operations Research was held at the Population Council’s New York office on January 19–21, 1998, to review progress made by three regional operations research (OR) projects in improving delivery of postabortion care. The resources of the three OR contracts were pooled, and, in collaboration with Ipas and the Ebert Program, approximately 65 researchers, senior program managers, and government officials from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia were convened. Three objectives guided the planning of the meeting: review progress in the development of OR methodologies pertaining to postabortion …


What Can Be Done To Foster Multisectoral Population Policies? Summary Report Of A Seminar, Population Council, Overseas Development Council Jan 1998

What Can Be Done To Foster Multisectoral Population Policies? Summary Report Of A Seminar, Population Council, Overseas Development Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo was a watershed moment in the definition of population policies. The meeting put an end to the unproductive debate on which is more instrumental in achieving voluntary fertility decline: providing family planning (FP) services or improving social and economic development. The answer was that both are essential. The Cairo meeting also defined the most desirable services and the kind of development that was most empowering, particularly with respect to achieving reproductive choice. Despite this strong dual message from Cairo, only the call for a move away from a narrow vision …


Issues In Essential Obstetric Care, Diana Measham, Virginia Kallianes Jan 1996

Issues In Essential Obstetric Care, Diana Measham, Virginia Kallianes

Reproductive Health

This report summarizes the proceedings of a meeting on essential obstetric care (EOC) convened by the Population Council on behalf of the Inter-Agency Group for Safe Motherhood (IAG). This technical meeting was held to clarify the definition of EOC, bridge the gap between research and program planning, and stimulate field-level activity. The president of the Population Council closed and summarized the meeting by noting that the IAG is making progress, but that work remains to be done. Progress will begin to occur more rapidly when we are able to prove that lives have been saved and to state definitively that …


Reproductive Tract Infection—Lessons Learned From The Field: Where Do We Go From Here?, Jennifer Grant, Diana Measham Jan 1996

Reproductive Tract Infection—Lessons Learned From The Field: Where Do We Go From Here?, Jennifer Grant, Diana Measham

Reproductive Health

The Population Council convened a meeting about reproductive tract infections (RTIs) to examine how best to use available tools and information, learn about potential service delivery approaches, and examine the direction of research. The meeting began with an examination of what is known about the prevalence, distribution, determinants, characteristics, and consequences of RTIs, as well as the common elements of an intervention framework. General obstacles related to work in the area of RTIs include lack of awareness of the problem and the limited power of women in society. Priorities for future research and programming include: further research on the scope …


Day Of Dialogue On Contraceptive Methods For Today And Tomorrow: Developments, Prospects, And Issues, Population Council Jan 1995

Day Of Dialogue On Contraceptive Methods For Today And Tomorrow: Developments, Prospects, And Issues, Population Council

Reproductive Health

This “aide-memoire” records the substance of the presentations and discussions of a Day of Dialogue—spanning two half-days on June 20–21, 1994—among representatives of the European donor community and the Population Council on “Contraceptive Methods for Today and Tomorrow: Developments, Prospects, and Issues.” The discussion covered how contraceptives are developed, prospects for new technology, areas of controversy surrounding current and potential methods, and ways to improve the process. This is the third Day of Dialogue the Population Council has been instrumental in organizing. The format for these meetings is simple and informal: Population Council staff and invited experts from other organizations …


National Research Utilization Conference, September 1994, Family Planning Operations Reserach And Training (Fport) Program Jan 1994

National Research Utilization Conference, September 1994, Family Planning Operations Reserach And Training (Fport) Program

Reproductive Health

The National Research Utilization Conference, held in Manila September 20, 1994, was the third conference convened by the Population Council's Family Planning Operations Research and Training (FPORT) Program in collaboration with the Department of Health. The FPORT program is being conducted under the Population Council's Asia and Near East Operations Research and Technical Assistance Project. This conference is the culmination of activities that started in October 1992 with a workshop on Introduction to Operations Research in Family Planning. The conference disseminated the results of five OR studies, discussed and evaluated policy and program implications, contributed to the legitimation of OR …


Reproductive Health Approach To Family Planning, Population Council Jan 1994

Reproductive Health Approach To Family Planning, Population Council

Reproductive Health

This report collects presentations from a panel held on Professional Development Day at the USAID Cooperating Agencies meeting in November 1994. The panel was designed to review key reproductive health elements that relate to family planning, including: reproductive tract and sexually transmitted infections, including AIDS; the prevention and treatment of unsafe abortion; pregnancy, labor, and delivery care; and postpartum care. While there is increasing international consensus that family planning should be broadened to include reproductive health care, it is far from clear as to how this should be done, and which elements should be incorporated. This panel explored some of …


Partnership For Prevention: A Report Of A Meeting Between Women's Health Advocates, Program Planners, And Scientists, Population Council Jan 1994

Partnership For Prevention: A Report Of A Meeting Between Women's Health Advocates, Program Planners, And Scientists, Population Council

Reproductive Health

In May 1994, the Population Council, in conjunction with the Pacific Institute for Women's Health and the International Women's Health Coalition, hosted a meeting for women's health advocates from around the world to discuss the development of microbicides. This process was the first step in building greater understanding and mutual respect among women's health advocates and Population Council staff and scientists with regard to the technology of microbicides. Participants hoped that the recommendations resulting from this initiative would have a positive influence not only on the development of microbicides, but on all reproductive health technologies. This report aims to reproduce …


Fertility, Family Size, And Structure: Consequences For Families And Children, Cynthia B. Lloyd Jan 1993

Fertility, Family Size, And Structure: Consequences For Families And Children, Cynthia B. Lloyd

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In 1989 the Population Council began a research project on the consequences of high fertility at the family level and its implications for the next generation. Since its inception, the project has been supported by Swedish SIDA and has involved the collaboration of researchers from selected developing countries. In countries where there has been limited research on this topic, such as India, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Senegal, the Population Council provided funding for new studies or for analysis of existing data with the potential for producing insights on this topic. In instances where relevant research was already underway, the Council …


Prevention Of Morbidity And Mortality From Induced And Unsafe Abortion In Nigeria, Friday E. Okonofua, Toun Ilumoka Jan 1991

Prevention Of Morbidity And Mortality From Induced And Unsafe Abortion In Nigeria, Friday E. Okonofua, Toun Ilumoka

Reproductive Health

These proceedings are from a seminar organized by the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology, and Perinatology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (Nigeria) in collaboration with the Population Council. The primary purpose of the multidisciplinary seminar was to identify the determinants of the high rate of mortality and morbidity from unsafe abortion in Nigeria. The specific objectives were: 1) to identify measures that could be undertaken on a short- and long-term basis to reduce the rate of abortion-related mortality, and 2) to set an agenda for research into abortion in Nigeria. The seminar consisted of oral presentations on related topics by researchers and …


Maternal Risk, Beverly Winikoff Jan 1991

Maternal Risk, Beverly Winikoff

Reproductive Health

This presentation to the 1991 Berzelius Symposium, Stockholm, Sweden, explores the issue of maternal risk—the probability or chance of dying or being seriously injured in pregnancy—as it is used in maternal health care. This concept of risk has been a useful tool for research and medical and epidemiological education, but its use as a tool for service delivery design has been more problematic. In order to construct a risk system, one has to have reliable data on the relationships between individual characteristics and the outcome being studied—something that is difficult to develop with regard to maternal health. Furthermore the system …


Limitations Of Maternal Care To Improve Maternal Health, Beverly Winikoff Jan 1991

Limitations Of Maternal Care To Improve Maternal Health, Beverly Winikoff

Reproductive Health

In a presentation at the 1991 Berzelius Symposium in Sweden, a Population Council researcher described the limitations of healthcare systems, specifically during pregnancy, in terms of their effect on maternal health status. These limitations stem from an inability to improve health because of social conditions—poverty and illiteracy, overwork, inequality in sexual relationships—that cannot be solved by medical interventions. Maternal ill health originates before pregnancy and endures beyond it, whereas the window of contact with women during pregnancy is small. Nevertheless, recent evaluations suggest that the impact of prenatal care is in the caring process more than any specific aspect of …