Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #106688

Doaa Oraby, PhD, Mohamed Afifi, MD, MSc, and Manal Eid, MA. TAHSEEN/CATALYST, 53 Manial, 4th Floor, Cairo, 11451, Egypt, 002025325065, manale@tahseen.org

The TAHSEEN/CATALYST Project, the final USAID-funded population program in Egypt is committed to the use of evidence based policy and practices to improve performance, health outcomes and use resources more efficiently. In order to design its intervention, the Project conducted a household survey in rural Upper Egypt in order to assess existing gaps in reproductive health knowledge and practice of randomly selected married women of reproductive age. Although Egypt has engaged in family planning activities and programs for almost thirty years, there is much work that remains to be done. Only 25 percent of respondents correctly listed three modern family planning methods, with only seven percent listing condoms. One fifth of the sample (20 percent) correctly identified the optimal birth spacing interval as 3-5 years and only thirty-seven percent knew the timing of postpartum FP. A slight majority, fifty-one percent, is currently using FP methods with most women using injectables (34 percent). Furthermore, only 29 percent of women were examined by a medical professional within 40 days of delivery and only 12 percent of women who had abortions (and/or miscarriages) received postabortion care in a hospital. Based on this data, the TAHSEEN/CATALYST Project developed and implemented an intervention plan focusing on communities with the poorest indicators. This model of conducting a household survey, followed by the development and implementation of an intervention plan will be replicated in other communities throughout Egypt. Each successive intervention plan will be modified according to the results of several post-intervention studies.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn about the current state of FP/RH knowledge and practice in rural Upper Egypt and will be able to identify intervention strategies that addressed gaps in FP/RH knowledge and practice.

Keywords: Data/Surveillance, Family Planning

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.