Accelerating Contraceptive Use Project
Project Date: 2002–2006
Funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation focused on identifying best practices for improving the quality and impact of family planning services in Afghanistan. The intervention began as a small project focused on providing misoprostal tablets to Afghan women in order to prevent postpartum hemorrhaging and therefore decrease maternal mortality.
The project team quickly discovered that, contrary to earlier research and beliefs, there was also a sizable demand for family planning services. By refocusing the funding on understanding the demand for family planning in Afghanistan, the team realized that there was a larger opportunity to improve women’s health and prevent maternal deaths. The MSH project team refocused the grants funding to provide evidence of family planning demands throughout the country to increase its use in the Ministry of Public Health’s Basic Package of Health Services.
The project team quickly discovered that, contrary to earlier research and beliefs, there was also a sizable demand for family planning services. By refocusing the funding on understanding the demand for family planning in Afghanistan, the team realized that there was a larger opportunity to improve women’s health and prevent maternal deaths. The MSH project team refocused the grants funding to provide evidence of family planning demands throughout the country to increase its use in the Ministry of Public Health’s Basic Package of Health Services.