Integrated health and community systems strengthening for improved contraceptive access and uptake in Nampula province, Mozambique
As with all types of interventions, the integration of health services demands an adjustment to contextual characteristics, ranging from the burden of disease to society and culture. Thus, in developing countries across Africa, efforts towards the integration of health services overwhelmingly focus on communicable diseases and family planning, and aim to involve existing community structures in the delivery of health services.
Such is the case of the USAID-funded Strengthening Communities through Integrated Programming (SCIP) project in Nampula province, Mozambique. This project, implemented from 2009 to 2015 by Pathfinder International and its partners, worked to increase access to contraceptive services by strengthening and better integrating health and community systems.
Toward the end of the project, Pathfinder observed a nearly 400 percent increase in couple years of protection (CYP). Furthermore, they found that the distribution of all contraceptive methods had increased, suggesting improved method choice and minimized health provider bias. Recognizing the ...