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I. Letter from the Adapting to Change Team
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to have the opportunity to communicate with you again via our Adapting to Change Learning Program Electronic Newsletter. Distribution has now surpassed 2,500 people worldwide. For those of you who are new subscribers, our mission is to share information, learning tools and best practices and facilitate a community of practice of a global network of professionals and academics working in the areas of population, reproductive health and health sector reform. Our Program has embarked on several new training activities since the Second Core Course in Washington last October, as you’ll see below. As always, we welcome your feedback! .
Arlette Campbell White and the Adapting to Change Program Team
II. Announcing the Third Core Course 10-28 September 2001 in Washington, D.C.
The Third Adapting to Change Global Core course will be held in Washington, D.C. 10-28 September 2001. The Course Goal is to improve population and reproductive health outcomes in client countries by strengthening the skills and capacity of key actors to make their population and reproductive health programs more efficient, equitable and financially sustainable. The course objectives are to increase participants’:
(a) Understanding of how the changing international and national policy environment impacts on their work in population and reproductive health;
(b) Knowledge and skills that they will use to deliver population and reproductive health services in their country in more efficient and equitable ways;
(c) Strategic thinking and ability to ensure that health sector reforms help rather than hinder improvements in population and reproductive health outcomes in their countries; and
(d) Capacity to develop action plans that apply course material, knowledge and tools to an issue they face currently in their work.
The course is designed for senior government officials, particularly from the Ministries of Health, Education, Women’s Affairs, Labor, Population and Welfare, and Finance and/or Planning, as well as representatives of NGOs, private sector organizations, the donor community, and others working in the field of population, reproductive health and health sector reform, including World Bank staff. The subsidized fee for the three week course is US$2,100 and participants are also expected to cover the full cost of their travel, subsistence, and hotel expenses. Space is limited so be sure to register early. For more information please download the course brochure and application from our website, http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/healthandaids/ or send your e-mail request to Ms. Laurence Sage, Admissions Officer, World Bank Institute at lsage@worldbank.orgThe deadline for registration is 15 June 2001. Priority will be given to countries that have been successful in assembling country teams of approximately three to five participants.
III. Distance Learning : Genre, Santé et Pauvreté : Nouvelles approches en matière de stratégies de réduction de la pauvreté - New Agendas for Poverty Reduction Strategies : Integrating Gender and Health
The second of two eight-week distance learning courses was launched 23 April 2001. Offered in French to participants at the Distance Learning Centers in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea and Benin, this course will be held over eight weeks on consecutive Mondays from 23 April through 11 June 2001, and will consist of eight, four-hour, interactive distance learning sessions.
The course explores the critical linkages between poverty, gender inequality and health, and their key policy issues and implications. It aims to define policy options and strategic choices for better health that take explict account of these linkages and to specify policies, programs and projects in various sectors that will promote better health that can be integrated into Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). The topics are:
- Session 1: Introduction and Framework for Looking at Gender, Health and Poverty Reduction – 23 April
- Session 2: Gender, Poverty and Economic Growth in Africa – 30 April
- Session 3: Gender and HIV/AIDS – 7 May
- Session 4: Gender-based Violence – 14 May
- Session 5: Education and Health: Cross Sector Implications – 21 May
- Session 6: Gender Dimensions of Water, Transport and Energy – 28 May
- Session 7: Putting It All Together in a Poverty Reduction Strategy – 4 June
- Session 8: Wrap-Up: Where Do We Go From Here? – 11 June
The course is aimed at high level officials and policy makers working in national governments, local and international NGOs, international agencies, academic institutions and World Bank staff. The course is highly recommended for government officials, NGOs, Bank staff and others involved in developing PRSPs in their countries. To register in Washington contact Ms. Nicole Fults, nfults@worldbank.org. In Benin, contact Mr. Jacques T. Edjrokinto, jacquese@Avu.org. In Cote d’Ivoire, contact. Mr. Yao Kouassi, yaokouassi@softhome.ent. In Senegal, contact Mr. Amara Seck, amaraseck@hotmail.com. In Guinea, contact Mr. Doumbouya Sory, sdoumbouya@worldbank.org. Participation in Washington is free of charge. At the distance learning centers, the fee is between $200 and $350, depending on the country. For details concerning the course content, please visit our website at http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/healthandaids/ or contact Ms. Marguerite Monnet at mmonnet@worldbank.org
Genre, Santé et Pauvreté is a repeat of the very successful course New Agendas for Poverty Reduction Strategies: Integrating Gender and Health that was held from 20 February – 10 April 2001 in English at the Distance Learning Centers in Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and Washington, D.C. Over 80 participants from four countries took part in the eight, four-hour training sessions, including the first lady of Tanzania. Participants represented international agencies, bilateral donors, government ministries and institutions, academic institutions, NGOs and private consulting firms. The course was one of the first multi-sectoral training given by the World Bank to support the development of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP). It has been cited as a “Best Practice” in Distance Learning Training by the World Bank Institute. For more information on the Anglophone course please contact Ms. Jo Hindriks at jhindriks@worldbank.org
IV. Autumn Offering of Distance Learning : Genre, Sante et Pauvrete : Nouvelles approaches en matiere de strategies de reduction de la pauvrete – New Agendas for Poverty Reduction Strategies : Integrating Gender and Health
There will be another offering of both the Anglophone and Francophone distance learning courses in the autumn. Genre, Santé et Pauvreté : Nouvelles approches en matière de stratégies de réduction de la pauvreté will be offered in October in several Francophone African countries. New Agendas for Poverty Reduction Strategies: Integrating Gender and Health will be offered in November in several Anglophone African countries. WBIDL will confirm the dates and locations in the upcoming future. For more information please contact Ms. Jo Hindriks, jhindriks@worldbank.org
V. Update on Successful Francophone African Core Course
The first Francophone version of the Adapting to Change Core Course was held 22 January – 2 February in Dakar, Senegal. The course was organized and delivered in collaboration with a network of partner institutions called the Network of African Partners in Population and Reproductive Health, with the secretariat currently managed by the Center for African Family Studies, Lomé, Togo. Fifty-five participants from 20 countries attended the two week course. The majority of the participants were mid- to senior level managers from the Ministries of Health, Planning or the Promotion of Women and the Family, UNFPA, and various NGOs. This training was the result of a year’s work, begun in February 2000 by the Francophone network, to customize the three-week long Washington-based course to the West and Central African context. The course was taught in French by trainers from the region who had participated in the June 2001 Training of Trainers Workshop. The next offering of the Francophone African Core Course will be in January 2002. For more information please contact Ms. Carrie Zwicker, czwicker@worldbank.orgFor more information about the Francophone Network please contact. Mr. Mamadou Dicko, mdicko@cefa.café.tg Please see our website for the agenda and training materials (in French) at http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/healthandaids/
VI. Adapting to Change Workshop for UNFPA Staff, 3-7 December 2001 in Turin, Italy
We will offer a Workshop on Population, Reproductive Health and Health Sector Reform for UNFPA representatives, deputy representatives, Country Support Team (CST) staff and national program officers in Turin, Italy 3-7 December 2001. The intention is to provide a one-week version of the Core Course specifically tailored to UNFPA needs, in particular encompassing gender and reproductive rights, poverty, economics, tools for delivering reproductive health, and health sector reform issues with an expanded section on sector-wide approaches. For more information please contact Arleta Campbell White, awhite1@worldbank.org
VII. Featured Website User
Have you visited our Adapting to Change website at http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/healthandaids/ We would love to hear from you! Our featured website user in this issue of the newsletter is Lori Ashford of the Population Reference Bureau, Washington, D.C. Lori was referred to our Adapting to Change website by the Bank’s Senior Population Advisor Tom Merrick. Tom told Lori that the paper she was looking for could be found on the website. Lori says she found the paper, plus a dozen more she liked, on our site. Lori writes reports and publications, synthesizing research as a bridge between research and policies. She’s always on the look out for new information. About the Adapting to Change Website, Lori says “It’s a valuable resource.” She particularly likes the very useful information posted from our Core Course on Population, Reproductive Health and Health Sector Reform. “The information was prepared for policy and program audiences. It was explicitly designed for high-level personnel, it summarizes what they need to know, and provides reliable background research and data with the most important policy and program questions there.” Lori says that she looks at so many websites, journals and research reports, and “Adapting to Change Course is unique in that the material has a policy and program filter that makes it so useful.” She congratulated us: “What’s there is an attractive site, good content and the nature of the types of documents are unique and interesting for people working in policy and programs.” Thanks Lori!
VIII. WHO’s Reproductive Health Library – Free Information in Electronic Format
The World Health Organization’s Reproductive Health Library (RHL) was showcased at the World Bank-hosted meeting of the Standing Committee of Co-Sponsors (WHO, UNFPA, UNDP and the Bank) of the WHO Special Program of Research and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP). The Reproductive Health Library (RHL) is the main vehicle for the promotion of evidence-based reproductive health programming and policy. The RHL was featured in a recent issue of the HRP Newsletter, Progress in Reproductive Health, which noted:
“Over the past decade there has been a growing swell of demand for ‘evidence-based’ health care. This is not to suggest that modern medical care was not based on evidence but, rather, that there is now much more opportunity to review it so that it can be taken into account in evaluating the effectiveness of interventions. . .
“For example, large trials have been conducted which show that routine episiotomy is not beneficial. Also, routine electronic fetal monitoring during labor, and routine ultrasound assessment during pregnancy, have not been shown to decrease morbidity and mortality. Yet these two practices are used widely in some countries. A more effective resource allocation, complemented by efforts to implement only those practices that are effective, should be a priority in order to improve reproductive health services.
“The Cochrane Collaboration was established to help clinicians and consumers assess the best available evidence about medical practice. Volunteer physicians and others around the world are attempting to find and synthesize randomized controlled trials in many areas of medicine. Cochrane reviews relevant to reproductive health are now being distributed worldwide through the WHO Reproductive Health Library. In addition to the Cochrane reviews, RHL includes expert commentaries on the reviews and other useful information. It is published in electronic format, thus making large amounts of information easily accessible at low cost.”
The Reproductive Health Library (RHL) was developed for medical staff and practitioners after studies showed that they didn’t have time to locate and read other published materials (either printed or electronic). Studies also indicated that many busy practitioners had not had the opportunity to acquire all of the skills and knowledge necessary to fully assess the quality and validity of published materials, and that even those so trained rarely had the time to do such evaluation. The RHL gathers material together on an annual basis, sorted by topic, so it is more easily accessible and by being in one place, saves a lot of time in searching through journals. It is a very useful tool for service providers and it is free.
RHL is available from WHO on a subscription basis. People interested in receiving a copy should write to: Documentation Centre, Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland. Fax: 41-22-7914171. E-mail: RHL@who.int RHL is available in English (CDROM and diskettes) and Spanish (diskettes) for number 3, 2000. In 2001, RHL will be available on CDROM only. RHL is not available on the Internet (for the time being). Subscription to RHL is free for people in developing countries. In industrialized countries RHL is available at an annual subscription rate of US$ 50.00 from Update Software, Summertown Pavilion, Middle Way, Summertown, Oxford 0X2 7LG, England. Te: 44-1865 513902. Fax: 44-1865 516918. help@update.co.uk To subscribe, individuals can send an e-mail to RHL@who.ch For more information, contact: Dr A. Metin Gulmezoglu (Coordinating Editor, RHL; e-mail: gulmezoglum@who.ch).
IX. New Readings and Announcements
New Readings
Contracting for Reproductive Health Care: A Guide
The World Bank’s Population and Reproductive Health Thematic Group has introduced a new knowledge product, “Contracting for Reproductive Health Care: A Guide” by Jim Rosen. The product is the result of requests from Bank operations staff who had requested a guide on contracting for reproductive health that could be shared with government partners interested in this approach. You can access the report here.
For more information contact Ms. Joanne Epp, jepp@worldbank.org
MATERNAL MORTALITY: New Report Documents UNFPA Efforts
The UN Population Fund recently released a new report that documents actions taken by the UNFPA to combat maternal mortality around the world. “Maternal Mortality Update, 1998-1999” reviews lessons learned and details from successful programs in 89 developing countries. According to the UNFPA, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and disability for women between the ages of 15 and 49 in most developing countries. The report identified four main pillars of reproductive health: family planning, maternal care, prevention of abortion and prevention of reproductive tract infrections, including sexually transmitted disease and HIV/AIDS. The report is available on-line at UNPFA’s website, www.unfpa.org
It can also be downloaded in Microsoft Word format free of charge (101 pages).
Immunization and Health Sector Reform
We would like to thank Robert Steinglass at BASICS who alerted us to two documents that examine the interplay between immunization and health sector reform. Prepared for WHO/GPV/EPI, “Immunization and Health Reform: Making reforms work for immunization – A reference guide”, provides insights into how quality immunization services can be sustained in a reformed and decentralized health system, especially if integration involved dismantling the vertical EPI program. The needed functions of an immunization program are presented along with commentary on which ones lend themselves to decentralization. The report was prepared by Rachel Feilden (BASICS) and Ole Frank Nielsen (DANIDA) based on field work in Zambia and Uganda and published in July 1998. Please contact Jean-Marc Olive at WHO/Vaccines and Biologicals, olivej@who.ch, for an electronic or hard copy.
Immunization and Health Sector Reform in the Kyrgyz Republic” is the report of a WHO-led mission that describes health reforms being undertaken in Kyrgyzstan and their significance for immunization. The report was issued by WHO/Vaccines and Biologicals in collaboration with the HOH, BASICS, UNICEF< USAID and the ZdravReform Project. The Minister of Health agreed to the team’s recommendations that the MOH and World Bank should prioritize immunization when adopting health reform; explicit prevention goals should be included in health reform; and immunization coverage should be used to monitor the health outcomes of reforms. The document is available at the WHO web site at http://www.who.int/vaccines-documents
Poverty Reduction and Immunizations
“Poverty Reduction and Immunizations”, a recent publication by Abt Associates, Inc., is a 14 page primer written to help analysts, stakeholders, and decision makers give full consideration to including immunizations as a major element of poverty reduction strategies developed in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) II debt relief process. This document, with an applied case study, clearly sets out the human development and health orientation of HIPC II, as well as how to build pro-poor health outcomes and interventions into the Poverty Reduction Strategy Programs (PRSP). It does so by using and demonstrating the example of immunizations, and also provides an illustrative case to show how to prepare a health input into the PRSP. This document provides useful basics that will contribute to the capacity to dialogue more effectively on the HIPC-II, PRSPs and the process of designing pro-poor health policies.
Announcement
AVSC International formally changed its name to EngenderHealth in March 2001
From their announcement: “After decades of use, and more than a half century in operation, the name AVSC International had come to be associated with a long track record of important contributions to family planning – particularly in the area of safe, voluntary sterilization counseling and clinical services. This is not a legacy we either want or intend to lose. However, the name “AVSC” also caused confusion, conveyed implications about the focus of our work that are no longer accurate, and failed to communicate what we do or the passion with which we do it. So after much deliberation and with excitement and renewed conviction, AVSC is proud to announce the change of its name to EngenderHealth.”
X. How to subscribe / unsubscribe
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