HYDERABAD: USAID’s flagship Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP), led by Jhpiego, organised a meeting at Tando Allahyar to mark the end of MCHIP’s activities and to celebrate its achievements on Tuesday.
According to a press release, the event hosted dignitaries and representatives from the government as well as private sector. Assistant Deputy Commissioner Abdul Hafeez Laghari was the chief guest at the occasion.
The event was organised as part of the project’s closing ceremony, where the knowledge gained and lessons learned pertaining to Tando Allahyar were shared with relevant stakeholders.
Speaking at the occasion, Abdul Hafeez Laghari said that MCHIP had successfully completed all of its assigned field interventions in 16 focused districts of Sindh. He said that MCHIP’s aim was to contribute to improvements in maternal, neonatal and child health.
He revealed that MCHIP’s areas of support included training of healthcare providers through group and on-the-job training modules, provision of supplies and equipment at its supported health facilities, minor repairs and renovation at selected facilities and supportive supervisory visits by district technical staff.
He said that the programme had made significant strides in the revitalisation of community midwives and lady health workers through a host of interventions, including improving their clinical and communication business skills.
The MCHIP has also extended extensive support to the district to strengthen routine immunisation, including registration and vaccination of pregnant women and children of less than two years of age, he added.
In light of these interventions, party chief Dr Fareed Midhet shared his experiences working with MCHIP and highlighted important next steps and the way forward. MCHIP took several steps to ensure the sustainability of interventions beyond the life of the project, he said.
He said that MCHIP was disclosing all its training packages and the profiles of its trainers and trainees so that they could be utilized by the health department after the project ended. He further said that this handing over of information included sharing MCHIP’s real-time monitoring software with the district monitoring and evaluation cells, handing over of mobile service units to the health department, and sharing its immunisation database.
Moreover, he said that MCHIP and the Lady Health Worker Programme had finalised a strategy for sustaining the community health workers and absorbing them into the lady health worker force in the province. The health department has endorsed the health workers as an available, trained resource for the programme’s next phase of hiring, he added.
Other speakers including Tando Allahyar DHO Dr Waseem Shaikh, focal persons and guests from private hospitals, IHS, World Health Organisation (WHO) and local non-government organisations (NGOs) acknowledged MCHIP’s efforts and appreciated their interventions.
All partners were thanked for their support provided during the life of the programme, including all USAID maternal and child health partners, health department and its relevant programs such as Lady Health Workers Programs, PPHI, Population Welfare Department and private sector NGOs.
The event gave information regarding the project through presentations, briefings and other tools. A district report was presented at the event that summarised all the interventions and activities undertaken during the life of the project. The report also highlighted findings, project results, challenges and recommendations to inform policymakers about a way forward for further improvement.
