JHPIEGO Awarded Grants for Health Care in Indonesia,
Pakistan
By Rebekah Chewning Titus JHPIEGO
JHPIEGO has
been awarded $356,470 by the Ford Foundation to continue
post-tsunami work in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, and $42,000 by
the American Refugee Committee for a pilot program in
post-earthquake Pakistan.
The Ford Foundation grant will allow JHPIEGO to
continue its work strengthening midwifery education at
Poltekkes and Akbid Muhammadiyah schools in Banda Aceh,
part of its relief work after the tsunami.
"Our work in Aceh is vital on two levels," said
Maryjane Lacoste, JHPIEGO regional and country director for
Indonesia. "We're helping to strengthen the health care
system after serious damage by the tsunami, but our work is
also helping provide women with skills to serve an
important role within their community, while instilling
pride and a sense of self-worth through economic
opportunity."
Since the South Asian tsunami hit in December 2004,
JHPIEGO and its partners have aided in the reconstruction
of the public and private sector health care system. They
have rebuilt and repaired community health clinics and
midwifery schools, provided updated equipment and conducted
staff training to ensure high-quality services and
compliance to national standards. Under the new grant,
JHPIEGO will continue to improve the overall quality of
midwifery education at two key schools in Aceh by
strengthening classroom teaching, laboratory practice and
clinical services at all levels — hospitals, puskemas
(community health clinics) and village midwifery clinics.
JHPIEGO will also ensure that the training given to
midwifery students is correctly implemented and fully
institutionalized and that the leadership and management of
midwifery education are stable and long lasting.
Because a midwife is the village's first point of
contact for primary care and referral, the education of new
and practicing midwives is one of the key factors in
re-establishing and improving health care in Indonesia.
With the American Refugee Committee grant, JHPIEGO
will begin work in the post-earthquake region of Pakistan,
conducting a one-week pilot "training of trainers" in the
Bagh Tehsil region. The goal of this short project is to
enhance the medical and training capacity of local ARC
senior staff to improve the performance of health care
providers and other professionals who support the service
delivery environment. Technical updates will be provided in
emergency obstetric care, family planning and infection
prevention, and a clinical training skills course will be
conducted.
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2006
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