Highlighting Health Workers’ Contribution to Family Planning and Reproductive Health
From September 27-29, Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office (PPD ARO) hosted a Regional Meeting of the Southern and Eastern Africa Alliance of Parliamentary Committees on Health (SEAPACOH). Held in Kampala, Uganda, the meeting focused on the theme of “Repositioning family planning and reproductive health in the southern and eastern Africa region: Lessons learnt, challenges, and opportunities.” A CapacityPlus associate partner, PPD is an intergovernmental initiative created to expand and improve South-to-South collaboration in reproductive health, population, and development.
Vincent Oketcho, chief of party of the Uganda Capacity Program, led by IntraHealth International, gave a well-received presentation on behalf of CapacityPlus. Titled “Health workers: Vital to family planning and reproductive health,” the presentation represents a component of CapacityPlus’s work to expand access to tools and information that draw decision-makers’ attention to the importance of investing in the health workforce and advocating for improved national policies on human resources for health (HRH).
Oketcho reported that the presentation prompted numerous follow-up questions. “One question was about HRH supply not matching the demand, and that supply is actually driven by social demand,” Oketcho noted. “Many private schools have training capacity that, if well managed, could make an important contribution towards meeting the effective HRH demand.” In response to a question about how to retain health workers in hardship areas, Oketcho shared findings from CapacityPlus’s Rapid Discrete Choice Experiment study in Uganda.
CapacityPlus’s Wilma Gormley was impressed with the high level of discussion, sharing, and problem-solving among parliamentarians from the various countries. “They talked a good deal about what it takes to demonstrate political will for more focus on family planning/reproductive health,” she noted. “They listened carefully to one another as they shared concrete actions that some have been taking.”
CapacityPlus originally developed this presentation for the Eastern Africa Reproductive Health Network Meeting in April 2011, coordinated by PPD. Going forward, PPD ARO will adapt and use the presentation with its family planning and reproductive health audiences.
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Photo by Trevor Snapp. (Nurse at Kopsiro Health Center in Kenya discusses family planning with a client)
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