Integrated Family Health Program (IFHP)

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See also: Crosscutting Issues, Central Contraceptive Procurement

Date of Operation: 2008 - 2013happy baby

Primary Implementing Partner: Pathfinder International

Other Implementing Partners: John Snow Inc., Consortium of Reproductive Health Associations (CORHA)

Regions of Operation: Addis Ababa, Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray

Goal:

Improve family health, especially for mothers, newborns, and children.

Project Objectives:

  • Strengthen and promote increased use of high impact family planning, maternal, newborn and child health practices, products and services.
  • Integrate family planning and HIV/AIDS services
  • Adolescent reproductive health
  • Malaria and essential nutrition actions
  • Emphasize actions at household, community, health post and health center levels
  • Focus on rural, peri-urban and hard-to-reach populations
  • Work toward a close linkage with other programs addressing clinical care at hospitals
  • Support training and supervision of Model Families and Volunteer Community Health Workers
  • Strengthen supportive supervision and logistics of health workers at the primary health care level

Description:

The Integrated Family Health Program (IFHP) supports the Government of Ethiopia’s Health Extension Program (HEP) and reaches over 32 million people—40% of the Ethiopian population—in 300 districts. Through assistance to over 13,000 health extension workers (HEWs) and thousands of community volunteers, USAID supports the delivery of key maternal, neonatal and child health services at the community level. These services include:

  • Expanded immunization
  • Family planning
  • Essential nutrition actions
  • Integrated community case management of childhood illness
  • Promotion of antenatal and prevention of mother to child disease transmission services
  • Water and sanitation

IFHP emphasizes a continuum of care approach at household/family, community and health facility levels through the provision of selected evidence-based and high-impact packages of services. This project plays an integral role in assisting the Ministry of Health to develop and change national policies, such as the use of antibiotics at the community level. The project supports the Government of Ethiopia in its Health Sector Development Plan and enhancing the Government’s management capacity as decentralization continues, leaving behind a well-functioning health system. By increasing the quality of health workers at the primary health care level and increasing demand for quality services, IFHP improves health behaviors and utilization of services. Additionally, IFHP also strengthens the promotion of essential nutrition actions with a strong focus on behavior change at both the community and facility level.

Results:

  • Reduction in fertility
  • Improvement in maternal, neonatal and child health outcomes
  • Reduction in maternal, neonatal and child mortality