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Earth Institute Receives $1 million from MacArthur Foundation for Sexual and Reproductive Health Initiative

9/1/10

Mother and child in the Ikaram, Nigeria Millennium Village

Mother and child in the Ikaram, Nigeria Millennium Village

NEW YORK, September 1 – The Earth Institute, Columbia University is pleased to announce a $1 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to help improve the health of mothers and children in poor, rural communities within the Millennium Villages project (MVP). These funds will support activities to increase access to quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and to assist governments with national scale-up programs of best practices learned from MVP. Specifically, the grant will allow continued advisory work, improved and expanded SRH services and access to a wider range of contraceptive commodities throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

“Globally more than 340,000 women die each year due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth, most of which could be prevented with appropriate maternal health care," said Milena Novy-Marx, MacArthur's Program Officer for Global Security and Sustainability. "MacArthur works to reduce maternal mortality and ensure that women have access to the services they need. Our partnership with the Earth Institute will enable the continuation of this important work in providing quality sexual and reproductive health services in sub-Saharan Africa."

Health clinic in Bonsaaso, Ghana Millennium Village

Health clinic in Bonsaaso, Ghana Millennium Village

Improving child survival and reducing maternal mortality are focal points of the MVP. The Earth Institute anticipates that the SRH project will improve access to clinics and skilled health professionals, increase HIV testing and the prevention of mother to child transmission, and reduce maternal, infant and child mortality rates. An appropriate range of contraceptive choices will also be available to all women in the Millennium Villages on a consistent and reliable basis, and providers will be well trained to counsel and administer method of choice.

“There are functioning, staffed, and well-equipped health clinics across the Millennium Villages and early evidence suggests that their presence is beginning to pay off,” said Sonia Sachs, Director of Health, Millennium Villages project. Most women in rural areas deliver babies at home without trained medical personnel. As a result there’s greater chance for complications during childbirth. “Delivery at the clinics has increased along with the presence of skilled birth attendants,” said Sachs.” The MacArthur Foundation grant allows us to build on these achievements and establish short and long-term sexual and reproductive health measures.”

The positive impact on sexual and reproductive health so far is evident throughout the Millennium Villages in sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to MVP intervention in 2006, just 9% of women in Ruhiira, Uganda delivered children with the aid of skilled birth attendants. In 2009, approximately 42% of births were delivered by skilled birth attendants and the health staff has increased from 10 personnel--none of whom were medical doctors--to 53 staff, including two medical doctors and 13 midwives, serving the entire cluster population. There have been similar achievements in Bonsaaso, Ghana, where assisted births have increased from 30% of deliveries to 61% in only three years. This increase was the result of community education, infrastructure improvements, newly constructed and rehabilitated health clinics and additional staff hiring and training. The experience in Ghana has highlighted the importance of a holistic, cross-sectoral strategy for improving institutional delivery rates and, furthermore, demonstrated that success can be achieved in a relatively short period of time.