Join FP2020 by Making a Commitment

The Government of Myanmar provided new information on its progress in April 2017.  Read the revised update here.

In July 2016, the Government of Myanmar shared an update on progress in achieving its policy, financial and program and service delivery commitments to FP2020.

The government reports performing the following activities in support of its program and service delivery commitment:

• In an effort to implementing a monitoring system to strengthen quality of care, the government of Myanmar agreed to—during the discussion for nationwide Implant training—the Lead FP Working Committee agreed to use a post training assessment form and quality control checklist with technical support from JHPIEGO and PSI as part of monitoring effectiveness. An assessment study on implant removal will also be conducted by MOHS and JHPIEGO to highlight the quality of care in service provision.
• Myanmar is working continuously on strengthening its logistics management information system to ensure reproductive health commodity security. Since 2014, RH Commodity Logistic System was being implemented in 12 townships. In 2016, with technical support from JSI and financial support from UNFPA, 55 townships under Shan (South) and Mandalay regions are having the LMIS expanded. To cover all other State/ Region, The funding gap to cover all other states and regions still exists and is under the negotiation of the MOHS with 3MDG fund.
• Nationwide Implant Training will be provided to health care providers in public in 2016 through a public-private partnership approach. The Total Market Approach for FP is being conducted by PATH in collaboration with MOHS and UNFPA. Introduction of Sayana Press in Myanmar is still going on in collaboration with UNFPA and other private partners. UNFPA will be supplying 0.8 million doses of Sayana Press in 2016 and, with the MOH’s lead to get pre-registration waiver, Sayana Press initiation program begin in the second quarter of 2016. This will increase additional users of modern method of contraception.
• To improve the monitoring system of family planning, the capacity building of M&E officers was carried out with the support of the Track 20 team and Consensus Building Workshops were conducted since last year to get consensus among stakeholders and discuss data utilization, data monitoring, private sector involvement, and other monitoring issues.

The Government of Myanmar provided new information on its progress in April 2017.  Read the revised update here.

In July 2016, the Government of Myanmar shared an update on progress in achieving its policy, financial and program and service delivery commitments to FP2020.

The government reports performing the following activities in support of its policy and political commitment:

• In 2016, Myanmar has made some progress in the policy environment for providing clinical contraceptive methods by trained and skilled nurses and volunteered, such as the commitment for task shifting to Auxiliary Midwives (AMW) in FP services; some methods of family planning like OC pills and condom can be provided by AMW. Long-term methods of family planning (particularly, implant) training is scheduled to start in July 2016 for the public sector, with a nationwide roll out planned for 2016-2017 with the support of UNFPA, PSI, Jhpiego and ObGy Society/ MMA. There will be trainings of health care providers to give services targeted to peri-urban poor in the Yangon region (reaching 34 townships), in the Mandalay region (23 townships), and in the Magway region (25 townships), where maternal mortality is high and unmet need is high.
• Myanmar has developed a five-year strategic plan for reproductive health and developed a Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) in 2014 to meet the commitment on Family Planning 2020. All implementing partners are providing FP services according to the strategies and guidance of that plan, but the government plans on revisiting the CIP this year 2016 to explore the gaps in family planning.
• Lead Working Group on Family Planning and Lead Working Group on RH are being conducted quarterly in alignment with the Reproductive Health Technical Working Committee meetings and any recommendations are discussed at the Maternal Newborn and Child Health Technical Strategic Group. In addition, the FP commodity meeting and coordination meetings of the nationwide training effort are also occasionally conducted occasionally.

In August 2015, Bloomberg Philanthropies shared an update on progress in achieving its commitments to FP2020.

• Bloomberg Philanthropies has engaged CDC Tanzania to conduct an impact evaluation of the Philanthropies’ work in Tanzania and found that on average, at least 100 maternal deaths and 2,000 injuries are being prevented annually because of interventions. Their evaluation also found that interventions increased access to emergency obstetric care within 2 hours from 68% to 72%
• CDC also conducted a household survey of 4,000 women of reproductive age in Kigoma, and findings from that survey were used to shape Philanthropies’ reinvestment strategy for the region.

• Aman Foundation, through the Sukh initiative is committed to share best practices and research to aid evidence based decision making. The intention is to share the best of time practices for family planning project scale ups and sustainability with potential users of the information. The Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University as a measurement partner for Sukh Initiative, is to provide an external and independent measurement of program impact through a cross sectional survey of a sample population within the 1 million intervention population in the form of a baseline and an endline. Program impact will be measured as per the objectives and program goals outlined and agreed upon in the Sukh program framework. The measurement partner will conduct a mid-term assessment of program progress towards identified goals and also an independent analysis of progress monitoring and PMIS data on an annual basis and participate in an annual review of program progress. A dedicated position of Manager Research and Metrics has been introduced to the Sukh initiative with sole responsibility of identifying and developing research questions and hypotheses and with program data to identify best practices and evidence based impact studies. The activity is to commence from 2015 when field level service data becomes available for a meaningful and effective sample study.   

• To increase the ambit of Sukh strategy and build on the success of different models implemented in the country, Sukh Initiative has evolved an exclusive technical body which is widely represented by the Sindh Government, development partners, technical experts both from public and private sector. This body aims to create synergy between different stakeholders including the government departments in Sindh. Sukh is also working at the community level through more than 200 community base organizations. To create an enabling environment for family planning services, Sukh is working in close collaboration with the provincial Departments of Health, Population Welfare, Education and Youth Affairs, to strengthen the existing systems in the intervention areas and play a leadership role in advocating for the sustainability of its objectives.

• [Aman Foundation's family planning] program will promote longer term, more effective contraceptive methods. Sukh through increasing MCPR will motivate new users to adopt family planning for the first time, and encourage users of traditional methods to switch to more reliable modern methods. The connection between increased MCPR and reduced maternal mortality rates is well established, as is its direct contribution to lowering the total fertility rate. To improve quality of services to increase access to family planning, Sukh strengthens the quality of services locally available and will develop capacity of maternity homes to offer quality post-partum and post abortion family planning services. Jhpiego as implementing partner will work with public sector facilities to improve access to FP services (by method) and with improved quality of service.

• One of the multiple service provision levers for the Sukh project is Family Life Education through Aahung, a local organization with previous experience in working with young girls and boys in communities on the sensitive issues related to maternal health, marriage rights and communication. Sukh will include door to door counselling and service delivery through Aman Community Health Program, to educate and inform the family planning clients on importance of family planning, choices available for family planning supplies, health hazards and other healthcare topics. In addition, Aman TeleHealth a 24-hour round the clock, 26-desks Health Helpline services over 3 shifts with medical advisors, counselors and doctors, will provide health advice and referral information over the phone. This will empower and encourage women and youth in particular, to avail the widely used mobile phone services to seek timely medical counseling that otherwise would not be accessible to them.

• Mozambique continues to offer integrated sexual and reproductive health services in all health facilities in the country, as an approach to increase access to these services. This commitment is evident in the Health Sector Strategic Plan 2014-2019, recently approved at the highest government level.

• Under the scope of the implementation of the family planning (FP) strategy, the offer of providing counseling in FP in all sexual and reproductive health services (SRH) was introduced, including the bureaus of HIV counseling, testing and Care and Treatment Services. Providers of other services (not just maternal and child health) were also included in ongoing training as a means of ensuring service provision to women in a "one stop" approach, where a package of SRH/FP services are offered, including at the pre-natal, postpartum, child at risk, and child vaccination visit.

• The implementation of offering long-term methods (IUD) immediately [following] postpartum are underway. The integration of offering modern contraceptive methods in the HIV program is also in the discussion phase.

• In the context of integrating SRH services, the capacity of screening Breast and Cervical Cancer (BCC) expanded from 31 US [Unidades de Saúde (Healthcare Centers)] in 2012 to 83 US at the moment, via training more than 670 healthcare professionals (530 - SMI [Saúde Materno-Infantil (Maternal and Child Healthcare)] nurses, 113 - general physicians, and 27 - gynecologists-obstetricians) and the allocation of the respective screening kits. During this period (2012 to July 2014), 203,110 women took the screening exam for cervical cancer. To accommodate these structural changes , all the registration instruments for Maternal and Child Health were reviewed, involving several sectors and institutions linked to the program, for the purpose of harmonizing said registration. The implementation of these instruments is set forth for January 2015, and they are being reproduced at this time.

• The government has focused on establishing a legal framework that permits the upholding of individual sexual and reproductive rights, with a particular emphasis on risk groups. The Assembly of the Republic approved the Law of Decriminalizing Abortion, the implementation of which is awaiting promulgation. In addition to laws, the Government approved strategies such as the Prevention and Treatment of Obstetric Fistula in 2012, as a means of increasing access to the treatment of fistula that affect women in low income families. With this action, a basic right is given back to these women that enables their social and familial re-insertion.

• To improve coordination, a family planning technical sub-group [has been] established; [its] mission is to review the policies, strategies, norms, and plans set forth in SRH/FP, as well as monitor family planning on a national level and mobilize human resources and materials for the implementation of activities. This working sub-group is lead by the Ministry of Health [Ministério da Saúde] and currently co-lead by UNFPA and meets regularly once a month and extraordinarily whenever necessary. As a result of this group's work, the following instruments were established:
  • The family planning consultation norms
  • The family planning acceleration plan
  • Emergency contraception norms
  • The quality standards of RH/FP consultations
  • The criteria for family planning in the mobile brigades and National Healthcare Week.

• The family planning sub-group, in coordination with other areas, will be performing various research/evaluations, namely:
  • The evaluation of availability of modern contraceptive methods at Healthcare Centers;
  • The evaluation of Elementary Multi-Task Agents' follow-up in the community of women using DEPO as a method of contraception; and
  • The evaluation of the integration of SRH and HIV services.

• To further improve coordination and ensure better logistical management, a technical sub-group for materials and products for RH/FP lead by MISAU (FP Program and Central de Medicamentos e Artigos Médicos - CMAM) exists, with the support and contribution of Cooperation and Implementation Partners. This sub-group, among other activities, is responsible for analyzing and revising requirements on a provincial level to avoid errors, given that one of the weaknesses is the rigor in accounting for needs at all levels.