Recorded presentation

Jeffrey M. Smith, MD, MPH, JHPIEGO/Afghanistan, House #24 Darulaman, Kabul, Afghanistan, Mehr Afzoon Mehr Nessar, MD, Ministry of Health of Afghanistan, Women's and Reproductive Health Directorate, Great Masood Road, Kabul, Afghanistan, Friba Hayat Hamayun, MD, USAID/REACH, House #24 Darulaman, Kabul, Afghanistan, and Anne Pfitzer, MHS, ACCESS Program, JHPIEGO, 1615 Thames Street, Baltimore, MD 20912, 410 537 1840, apfitzer@jhpiego.net.

Afghanistan has among the worst reproductive health indicators in the world. An immediate priority of the newly-formed Transitional Islamic Government of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Health was the provision of reproductive health services. The MOH shepherded an energetic and collaborative process to develop a platform for the expansion of reproductive health services. With the technical support of JHPIEGO and MSH (funded by USAID), UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA, the MOH established a Women’s and Reproductive Health (WRH) Directorate. This office formulated a National Reproductive Health Strategy with family planning and safe motherhood at its core. A task force of key stakeholders developed National Standards for Reproductive Health to guide the establishment and expansion of services. These services were priority components of the MOH’s Basic Package of Health Services, deemed a basic right for Afghans. The WRH Directorate developed a strategy able to: synthesized existing data and obtain new data regarding RH, disseminate and operationalize the new Standards, integrate the National Standards into the in-service training programs and pre-service training curricula of health care providers, and monitor and evaluate the process. The authors will describe the importance of strategy development, the definition of reproductive health in the context of post-conflict Afghanistan and the purpose of national clinical standards in establishing a foundation for service expansion. They will emphasize the role of the government in formulating a singular reproductive health strategy with the help of donor and technical agencies, and will describe continuing challenges in providing reproductive health services in a traditionally Islamic society.

Learning Objectives:

• · Describe the state of reproductive healthcare in Afghanistan
• · Understand the complexities of establishing and expanding reproductive health care services in post-conflict Afghanistan
• · Describe elements for establishing a foundation for expanding the Ministry of Health’s Reproductive Health Strategy
• · Discuss the process for collaborative development of a national reproductive health strategy and clinical standards

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation