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Partnering for Child survival

Programme information (description of programme): Date February 14, 2003 Name organisation MG Institute of Medical Sciences City Sewagra-442102, Wardha,Maharashtra Country INDIA Name programme Partnering for Child survival Programme objectives To create a decentralized health delivery system at village level in 25 villages of Talegaon by establishing appropriate partnership between communities, public & private health care providers and MGIMS that can reduce morbidity and mortality among children less than five years of age and women of reproductive age group (15-45) by 2006. Programme description 1. Replicating the village-based service delivery model developed by AKF (I) and MGIMS under the Community Partnerership Health Initiative: 2. Development, installing and enhancing reproductive and child health services and related interventions, through self-help groups, at the village level; 3. Enhancing the capacity of program partners – communities, providers and MGIMS – to deliver essential services and to sustain health gains; 4. Initiating research initiatives, documenting results and contributing outcomes and lessons learned to the policy dialogue on improving reproductive and child health in India. Programme activities 1. Community Mobilization: MGIMS will motivate the villagers to organize and commit to creating a Village Health Committee that will act as a link between the community and the various providers and other institutions. The VHC, as representative of the villagers, will be involved in all states of the project cycle and participate in the development and design, financing and implementation of community health plan. A variety of health financing options, especially health insurance, will be explored with villagers through discussions in the Village Health Committee. The option of Child Health Insurance will also be explored by organizing a meeting with insurance sector. The diagnostic camps will be organized in all these villages at least at yearly interval to render specialist care to the villagers. The DCM has developed 150 SHGs in 24 villages so far, while on one side the number of SHGs per village will be increased also an efforts will be made to develop women entrepreneurship Programmes especially directed towards social marketing / community based distribution system for DDK, sanitary napkins and herbal medicine. 2. Service Delivery: Services will focus on improving child survival and reproductive health outcomes. MGIMS will facilitate the routine delivery of essential child survival and safe motherhood interventions and introduce new components (neonatal care). The package of services will also include interventions to improve adolescent health and to address the threat of HIV/AIDS. Services will be delivered by establishing a decentralized, village-based system. In the villages of Talegaon l, MGIMS will use a participatory approach to assess village needs, to plan programme interventions and to implement and monitor activities. The program will use the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness approach to address the important causes of infant and childhood mortality. In partnership with communities and government officials MGIMS will develop and deliver a comprehensive and acceptable reproductive health package at the village, sub-centre, primary health centre and community health centre. The program would address the issues of quality of services in both public and private sector. 3. Capacity Development: Capacity development (of organizations) has a three-fold focus: at the village, among NGOs that will partner implementation and at MGIMS. An assessment of the needs of at each level will be followed by the definition and delivery of interventions needed of at each level will be followed by the definition and delivery of interventions needed to give each institution the skills needed to operate effectively in carrying out its mandate. To improve the quality of management, training in the use of the modules of Health – Management Advancement Programme will be carried for all the implementing groups, especially the health care providers. Organizing continuing education Programmes will further enhance the capability of partners like of Panchayat members and health care providers (PHC Staff & AWWs). An effort will be made to motivate the Panchayat members to act as support agent for Social Marketing/ Community Based Distribution System through SHGs A TOT will be organized to initiate woman-to-woman programme & special efforts will be paid to initiate the IEC programme through SHGs. A white-ribbon movement will also be undertaken for safe motherhood using the members of SHGs. For an efficient management the SHG villages will be stratified into 4 sectors. Research: The programme will carry out village-level research in the project area to improve project performance and to collect information needed to contribute to discussions on maternal and child health at for a outside the project area. The following are among the topics considered for investigation; community based neo-natal care, gender equity and violence against women; strategies for promoting safe sex, especially for rural areas; the results of applying the IMCI initiative in rural areas; the results of linking income generation with health service delivery; the cost, management requirement and results of the Health Service Network; etc. The data collected will be analyzed and shared at seminars and published in newsletters, etc. 8.Policy Advocacy: AKF (I) and MGIMS will use the evidence generated at the village level to contribute to the state and union dialogue on policies, programmes and practices that contribute to the health and well-being of women and children in India. AKF (I) and MGIMS will share the experiences, drawn from the villages, and disseminate information on project strategies and achievements. An effort would be mounted to establish an active dialogue with government partners and others, based on the experience gained in the project, to promote the introduction of new (revised) policies and practices. Programme (expected) outcomes The program would benefit approximately 40,000 residents of Talegaon (approximately 8,000 households). The main direct beneficiaries of the program are women and children less than 5 years, who number approximately 40,000 and 10,000 respectively. The secondary beneficiaries would include husbands, sisters and mothers in law. Other indirect beneficiaries will be the NGOs and government managers who have traditionally worked independently from each other. The project will bring these ‘Key actors’ together (community, NGO, private providers and government) to ensure that essential services are accessible, affordable, relevant and of high quality.   Further programme information: Programme startdate January 1, 2001 Programme enddate September 30, 2003 Funding sources Aga Khan Foundation Target population 40,000 Geographical location Talegaon, wardha, India Partner organisation 1 Aga Khan Foundation Partner organisation 2 MG Institute of Medical Sciences Partner organisation 3 District Health System Wardha