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

Abstract #109405

Kedar Baral, MD¹, Pierre-Marie Metangmo, MD, MBA, MPH², Laban Tsuma, MD, MPH², and Luis Tam, MD, DrPH³. (1) Nepal Country Office, Plan International, PO 8980, Ward #3 GA Shantabhawan, Lalitpur, Nepal, 977-1-5535580, luis.tam@planusa.org, (2) Headquarters, PLAN International, 3260 Wilson Bouldvard, Suite 21, Arlington, VA 22201, (3) Plan USA, 1730 N Lynn St, Suite 600, Arlington, VA 22209

Since 2001, Plan International (an international, child-centered development NGO) has been implementing a 5-year, USAID-funded Child Survival Project in the rural areas of the Bara District of South Nepal. Approximately 80,000 children under five years of age and 110,000 women of reproductive age participate in interventions such as control of diarrhea, pneumonia case management, maternal and newborn care, and child spacing. One of the project highlights is the continuous application of Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) to monitor the progress in the adoption of healthy behaviors. LQAS is a sampling method, originally designed 75 years ago to control quality within batches of industrial products. It has recently been adopted for use by community health practitioners, including US PVOs implementing Child Survival projects. HIGHLIGHTS of the application of LQAS in Plan Nepal include: 1) CONTINUITY: Since project inception, 6 LQAS surveys have been executed in each of the 7 project areas. The last round of surveys was done in January 2005. 2) PARTICIPATORY IMPLEMENTATION: LQAS surveys are done every 6 months with participation of Plan, MOH and NGO partners. 3) PARTICIPATORY ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING: Results of LQAS are processed and analyzed in each of the 7 project areas by MOH, Plan and NGO partners. Decisions are made based on these results. 4) HIGH INTEREST IN OTHER ORGANIZATIONS: Plan has provided technical assistance to Save the Children USA in Nepal for the adoption of LQAS. 5) COST-EFFECTIVE: Because of the relatively small sample needed and its participatory implementation, LQAS costs are similar to more traditional approaches. Moreover, the health facilitators' routine work include the periodic implementation of LQAS, reducing its costs. CONCLUSION: Plan's experience with LQAS in Nepal has been so successful that it is applying LQAS to its new projects in Kenya and Cameroon.

Learning Objectives:

• To demonstrate the relevance and feasibility of Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) for the periodic monitoring of Child Survival practices in rural families and communities of developing countries.

Keywords: Information Systems, Maternal and Child Health

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.