Developing a model project. JOICFP's project in the Philippines is serving as a model of community-based activities
Joicfp News 1997(272): 1
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0911-0755 PMID: 12292080 Document Number: 270328
Japan has directed reproductive health and family planning projects in the Philippines through JOICFP. The UNFPA-funded Sustainable Community-based Reproductive Health/Family Planning Project is one such JOICFP project. This project was renewed for 1996 and 1997. The project aimed to increase quality of health care in the municipalities of Balayan and Malwar in Batangas Province. The project was selected as a pilot for nationwide expansion of community-based services within a UNFPA and the Philippine Department of Health national strategy. JOICFP is expected to provide technical assistance for the development of community-based services in Capiz utilizing the Batangas province as a model. In Batangas, the project will work toward institutionalization and sustainability of quality care in the provision of reproductive health services at the community level. The project encourages male participation by holding reproductive health seminars for men. The project also provides adolescent health education for both men and women. The project has an income-generation component for women and a cost-sharing approach to service provision. Families pay for basic services, such as urinalysis, pregnancy testing, Pap smears, and parasite control. The project plans to expand training of health personnel to include management and treatment of reproductive tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV infections. In Capiz, the project will target local governments in an effort to strengthen reproductive health and family planning services. Local government officials and key health personnel participated in an on-site orientation in Batangas as part of a planning workshop that also generated operational mechanisms and a work plan for Capiz. Committees will be set up in the selected villages in Capiz in order to establish detailed plans and implementation.