Press Releases
USAID Course Train Health Managers in Reproductive Health
Islamabad, March 4, 2008 – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) today certified 25 district health managers from Sindh and Balochistan in leadership skills and client-centered services related to reproductive health.
“We know that infant and child survival rates have not changed much in the past ten years,” said Mary Skarie, USAID/Pakistan’s Health Office Chief. “We also know that infant and child deaths can be reduced if births are spaced three to five years apart. This training enables these district managers to emerge as leading voices to encourage birth spacing in their districts.”The course trained the health managers to consider the impact of population dynamics and reproductive health issues on their districts. The managers are now better prepared to respond to the health and development challenges facing the areas they serve.
The eight-day training workshop was part of USAID’s five-year, $60 million Family Advancement for Life and Health (FALAH) program. FALAH, being implemented in 20 districts throughout Pakistan, increases the accessibility and use of contraceptives and birth-spacing methods that can help reduce Pakistan’s high rates of maternal and infant mortality.
Support for this project is part of the $1.5 billion in aid that the U.S. Government is providing to Pakistan over five years to improve economic growth, education, health, and governance and to assist with earthquake reconstruction.
