BRAC
Health Programme awarded Gates Foundation grant for Urban Community
Health Programme
DHAKA, BANGLADESH, 29 January 2007 –
BRAC, a leading development organization dedicated to helping
Bangladesh reach the Millennium Development Goals, has recently
started Manoshi, a community health care initiative aimed at reducing
maternal, neonatal and child mortality in the urban slums of Bangladesh
through the development of effective models of health care delivery,
including an integrated package of essential health services.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded BRAC a grant
of over US$ 25.2 million to fund the project.
While Bangladesh has experienced
remarkable progress in health over the last few decades, the status
of maternal and child health remains unacceptably poor, with conditions
being especially worse in urban slums. BRAC’s Manoshi initiative
will help address this problem by empowering communities and engaging
health systems to scale up proven and cost-effective interventions
that improve maternal and child health. Manoshi will also help
ensure obstetric services are available and accessible to urban
disadvantaged women through existing facilities.
The Manoshi initiative
aims to reach 8 million people over a 5-year period and is being
implemented in urban slums in the Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi,
Barisal and Khulna city corporations and 15 statistical metropolitan
areas. Components of the project include capacity development
of community health workers and birth attendants; health service
provision for pregnant and lactating women, neonates and under-five
children; timely referral to quality health facilities; community
empowerment through development of women’s groups; and strengthening
of linkages among local and national government and non-government
organizations as well as the community.
ICDDR,B, an internationally
renowned research organization based in Bangladesh, will partner
with BRAC Research and Evaluation Division to conduct evaluations
and other studies to supplement understanding of maternal, neonatal
and child health in urban slums, and which will provide input
into program development and improvement.
About BRAC
Established in 1972 as a small-scale relief and rehabilitation,
BRAC today is one of the largest NGOs in the world, pioneering
a multi-faceted approach to development with programmes in health,
education and social development along with its economic development
initiatives, which include microfinance. BRAC reaches an estimated
110 million in all 64 districts of Bangladesh and in recent years
has stepped beyond the borders to countries in distress like Afghanistan,
Sri Lanka, Uganda and Tanzania.
Q. Pushpita Alam
Manager, Communications
BRAC Public Affairs and Communications
Tel: +880-2-9881265/8824180 ext-2155
Fax: +880-2- 882 3614
Email: public-affairs@brac.net
Website: www.brac.net
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