Dakar, 1st December 2011 – For many underserved women around the world local private providers are their only point of contact with the healthcare system. At the International Conference on Family Planning in Dakar today, experts from Marie Stopes International discuss how the global unmet need for voluntary family planning can be reduced by engaging private providers to provide high quality sexual reproductive healthcare.
IUD discontinuation in Viet Nam
Research presented today in Dakar strongly associates perceived low quality service by commune health stations in Viet Nam with high rates of IUD discontinuation , an alarming finding given that the IUD accounts for more than 50% of contraceptive use in the country. Statistics show that almost 27% of women discontinued IUD use 36 months after insertion.
Improving family planning services in Viet Nam through a partial social franchise model
Separate research presented in Dakar today demonstrates the successful implemention by Marie Stopes International of a partial social franchising model where 146 commune health stations in Viet Nam were brought together in order to improve service quality, increase service availability and promote the new franchise brand . A 45% increase in family planning clients was reported, along with increased client perception of staff attitudes, client satisfaction and likeliness to return to the clinic.
Marie Stopes International CEO Dana Hovig said: “Lack of knowledge in the private and community sectors perpetrate myths and misconceptions women have about contraceptives, and a limited clinical skills and contraceptive supply means that even women who try to access contraception in the private sector can come away with their unmet need unresolved.”
“A key part of Marie Stopes International’s strategy to reduce unmet need for family planning is through engagement with trusted, local private providers and increasing their ability to deliver high quality voluntary family planning, most notably through our social franchise network BlueStar.”
Social franchising in Pakistan – ensuring high client satisfaction levels
More research presented by Marie Stopes International today validates this approach. Marie Stopes Society Pakistan’s SURAJ social franchise network comprises 140 private providers who are franchised by Marie Stopes International, trained and monitored to ensure they can provide quality services to our ‘gold standard’ and given access to high quality contraceptive commodities so that women in hard to reach areas are given choice over their reproductive health, quickly and in a cost effective way .
A total of 97,066 IUDs were inserted by 96 SURAJ providers during 2009 and 2010, delivering 533,863 CYPs. Of these, 81% continued using the IUD while 90% expressed high satisfaction levels and almost 97% reported they would be happy to recommend the service to others.
Hovig concludes: “The findings of this study confirm our belief that engaging the private sector can have a positive transformational effect on health in the developing world and that our social franchise model can significantly influence the uptake of modern long term contraceptive use, particularly by employing demand generating and supply-side approaches at the same time.”
“The research we’re presenting today shows that social franchising is crucial if we want to accelerate the provision of quality services close to the client. Organising and strengthening the private sector through social franchising allows us to strengthen national health systems and achieve national health impact.”
Marie Stopes International exists to reach the underserved, by providing them with the fullest possible range of family planning services and comprehensive reproductive healthcare possible. In 2010 alone, more than 7 million couples were using a modern method of contraception as a result of our work.
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Notes to Editors
For more details, media enquiries and interviews please contact:
In Dakar
Michael Tirrell, Communications Manager
Michael.tirrell@mariestopes.org
+44 (0)7771 681 265
In London
press@mariestopes.org.uk
+44 (0)20 3219 8005 or +44 (0)20 3219 8006
Out of hours: +44 (0)7769 166 516
Please visit our Conference Stand in Room C01 or visit www.mariestopes.org to find out more about our work.