Recorded presentation

Namoudou Keita, MD, DEA, PRISM Project, Management Sciences for Health, Immeuble Fawaz, 1er Etage B.P 3064, Corniche Sud, Quartier Coleah, Conakry, Guinea, 703-248-1632, mpartilla@msh.org

Currently, the protocol of the community based service delivery program in Guinea, West Africa, requires community healthworkers (CHWs) to refer women desiring oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) to health centers for their initial prescription. However, research has found that often, women do not go to the health center and do not choose other methods. Thus, there is an unmet demand for contraceptives. Additionally, some women obtain OCPs in the market, or from the CHWs, despite protocol.

Given this situation, the PRISM Project, known in Guinea under its French name Pour Renforcer les Interventions en Santé reproductive et MST/SIDA, conducted an operational research to determine whether CHWs could correctly prescribe OCPs and whether this affected the number of women using OCPs. Implemented by Management Sciences for Health with funding by USAID, PRISM used pictorial aides to train 20 CHWs how to determine if a woman is pregnant, how to determine if she is contra-indicated to take OCPs, and which type of pill to prescribe.

The activities of these CHWs were compared to a control group of 21 CHWs who did not receive training. The results found that in the experimental zones there was a doubling in the number of clients using oral contraceptives as well as in the couple years protection, and that the trained CHWs correctly followed the norms for prescribing and distributing OCPs.

The findings of this operational research are being presented to the government of Guinea as a recommendation for changing the current protocol.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session, participants will understand how focused operations research provides a cost effective step in expanding a service package at the community level. Participants will also learn how the prescription of oral contraceptives pills can be safely integrated in the package of services offered by community based agents, with minimal medical training and minimal literacy skills.

Keywords: Community Health,

Related Web page: www.msh.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Management Sciences for Health/PRISM Project and the U.S. Agency for International Development
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation