Ukraine’s Poltava Oblast Invests in Women’s Health
Over the past decade, USAID’s Together for Health (TfH) and Policy Project have been working with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and other partners to develop and implement supportive policies and systems for improving women’s health in that country. The culmination of these efforts came in December 2006, when the Cabinet of Ministers passed a new state program, “Reproductive Health of the Nation” (SPRHN), allocating $150 million for a range of reproductive health services through 2015, including family planning, with $90 million allocated at the national level, and almost $60 million to come from local budgets. The program also brings Ukraine’s reproductive health plans in line with the World Health Organization’s 2004 Reproductive Health Strategy recommendations.
 |
Representatives from the Poltava Oblast Health Department and TfH discuss the Oblast Reproductive Health Program on local television
Photo Credit: Nina Durdykylieva |
SPRHN sets a positive precedent for improving family planning and reproductive health services across the country. Policymakers in Poltava Oblast have teamed up with TfH to create an Oblast Reproductive Health Program that will identify the primary needs of the Poltava community and potential funding sources to address these needs at the local level.
Understanding that women’s health is not only a medical but also a social issue, the Oblast Health Department invited representatives from the Oblast Departments of Education, Science, and Family, Youth, and Sport, NGOs, as well as experts in the fields of women’s health, family planning, finance, and statistics to participate in a working group. The multidisciplinary nature of this group ultimately proved to be both the greatest challenge and strength of the development process. Alla Bredihina, financial director of the Oblast Health Department, and Anna Shkodenko, Poltava’s chief obstetrician-gynecologist, agreed that having representatives from so many groups has meant opposition to each idea, but believe that working through different opinions have made the resulting program stronger. Nina Durdukulieva, head of the Oblast Health Promotion Center concurred, stating that the final product was “balanced to meet all goals and interests,” and that such balance ensures the program’s success.
Poltava Oblast was one of the first in Ukraine to approve an Oblast Reproductive Health program that fully reflects the scope of the national program, and its success indicates a commitment to protecting women’s health at the oblast level well into the future. The project has allocated over $5.2 million to improving family planning and reproductive health services, of which $600,000 will be dedicated to contraceptive procurement and $800,000 will fund population awareness campaigns. Other funds will be used to purchase new equipment for maternity hospitals and provide training for health professionals. Such clear financial goals ensure the sustainability of the program, which aims to work until 2015, long after the USAID project in Ukraine has ended.
The program has already begun gaining support in the local community, with policymakers appearing on local interactive television shows to explain the program. Local administrators hope that the Poltava Oblast Reproductive Health Program will stimulate further work in the field of women’s health at the local level for years to come.
Back to Top ^ |
