FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 21, 2005
Contact: Julie O'Brien
Phone: 617-250-9500
Email: jobrien@msh.org

Kabul, Afghanistan: The Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) and the Directorate of Public Health of Herat province have jointly issued an official Certificate of Appreciation to Management Sciences for Health (MSH) for its contribution to improving the quality of health services being delivered in the country's western province of Herat.

Signed on behalf of the MOPH by Dr. Nadira Hayat, Deputy Minister for Reproductive and Maternal and Child Health, and by Dr. Raufa Niazi, Herat Public Health Director, the certificate especially lauds the work of Dr. Gholum Sayed Rashed, REACH Provincial Public Health Advisor, and Dr. Qadeer A. Timori, REACH Health Specialist.

In addition to advising and cooperating with the Herat Public Health Directorate, Dr. Rashed and Dr. Timori work closely with the four NGO recipients of USAID-funded REACH grants in the province to ensure their effective implementation of the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS), which is being delivered in 11 of Herat's 16 districts, providing 42% of Herat 's population access to primary health care services, including immunization against and treatment of infectious diseases, family planning, ante and postnatal care, delivery and newborn care.

REACH NGO grantees in Herat also train and field Community Health Workers, who operate village health posts. One NGO grantee, World Vision International, is training midwives on the Herat campus of Afghanistan's Institute of Health Sciences.

Through REACH, implemented by MSH, USAID has supplied $48.9 million to 19 Afghan and International NGOs delivering the BPHS in over 300 health facilities in 14 Afghan provinces; another $6.2 million in USAID funds is training community and hospital midwives, and $2.2 million is improving hospital management and service delivery. Altogether, USAID-funded REACH grants are providing 7.1 million Afghans access to health services.

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