- Dr. Koki Agarwal is an internationally recognized expert in safe motherhood, reproductive health, and family planning policies and programs. Her expertise is in promoting policy dialogue and advocacy for policy reform; assessing quality of care and access to reproductive health programs; promoting health sector reform; and exploring operational policy barriers. Dr. Agarwal’s approach to policy and quality of care issues draws on her doctoral-level education in population studies and public health, clinical experience in pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology, and professional background in research methods and demographic analysis.
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Since January 2005, Dr. Agarwal has been responsible for the overall management and strategic and technical integrity of the ACCESS Program, the five-year, $75M flagship program for maternal and newborn health funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. For this global award, Dr. Agarwal guides all core- and field-funded maternal and newborn health activities. During her short tenure at Jhpiego, Dr. Agarwal has led ACCESS to expand activities from 10 to 20 countries. Dr. Agarwal serves as a board member of the White Ribbon Alliance, a global movement for raising awareness and advocating for safe motherhood. She is also a key member of the Maximizing Access and Quality of Care subcommittees formed under the auspices of USAID and its cooperating agencies.
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Earlier, with the Futures Group, Dr. Agarwal was the Deputy of the POLICY Project, overseeing all reproductive and maternal health activities of the Project. She also served as chair the Project’s maternal health activities and Director of the Center for International Health.
- Agarwal, Koki Agarwal, ACCESS, ACCESS Program, Jhpiego, JHPIEGO, director, safe motherhood, reproductive health, family planning, FP, RH, FP/RH, policy, programs, access to care, health sector reform, policy barriers, quality of care, population studies, public health, clinical experience, pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, research methods, demographic analysis, management, strategic planning, maternal health, neonatal health, newborn health, maternal and newborn health, board member, White Ribbon Alliance, WRA, Maximizing Access and Quality, MAQ, USAID, Futures Group, POLICY Project, international health, low-resource settings, limited-resource settings, developing countries
Research Projects
ACCESS Program
The ACCESS Program is the U.S. Agency for International Development''s global program to improve maternal and newborn health. The ACCESS Program works to expand coverage, access and use of key maternal and newborn health services across a continuum of care from the household to the hospital—with...
ACCESS-FP: Addressing Unmet Need for Postpartum Family Planning
The ACCESS-FP Program is a 5-year, USAID-sponsored global program with the goal of responding to the significant unmet needs for family planning among postpartum women. As an Associate Award through the ACCESS Program, ACCESS-FP is implemented by Jhpiego in partnership with Save the Children,...
ACCESS: Prevention and Treatment of Malaria in Africa
In sub-Saharan Africa, malaria infection is estimated to cause 400,000 cases of severe maternal anemia and 75,000-200,000 infant deaths annually. Maternal anemia contributes significantly to maternal mortality and causes an estimated 10,000 deaths per year. In areas of stable transmission, the...
Afghanistan: ACCESS Health Service Support Project
The ACCESS Health Service Support Project (HSSP) is a four-year Associate Award from USAID to improve service delivery and the quality of basic health services in Afghanistan. In concert with the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), HSSP provides support to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to...
Albania: Strengthening Family Planning (through the ACCESS Program)
ACCESS-FP is beginning work in Albania to strengthen family planning in the postpartum and postabortion periods and to reinvigorate the provision of IUD services. The program will also work to increase demand for modern contraceptives in the country.
About ACCESS:
The ACCESS Program is the...
Bangladesh: Integrated Safe Motherhood Newborn Care and Family Planning (MAMONI)
With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and in collaboration with its partner Save the Children, Jhpiego is implementing a four-and-a-half-year, $13.5 million project that aims to decrease maternal and neonatal mortality in Sylhet and Habiganj Districts. The...
Bangladesh: Strengthening Maternal and Newborn Care Services (through the ACCESS Program)
In Bangladesh, ACCESS aims to increase the practice of healthy maternal and neonatal behaviors at the household level. The overall objective of the program is to increase the practice of healthy maternal and neonatal behaviors in a sustainable and potentially scalable manner. Specifically, ACCESS...
Cambodia: Improving Access to High-Quality Maternal and Newborn Health Services (through the ACCESS Program)
ACCESS is assisting the Cambodia Ministry of Health and local key stakeholders to improve the availability of and access to high-quality, sustainable maternal and newborn health services through an Associate Award from USAID. This three-year program builds on previous ACCESS work and has three...
Cameroon: Building the Capacity of Skilled Birth Attendants (through the ACCESS Program)
With finding from USAID, ACCESS has been working in West Africa with AWARE-RH, Mwangaza Action, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partner governments. ACCESS/Cameroon works to build the capacity of skilled birth attendants in the areas of prevention of postpartum hemorrhage, use of the...
Ethiopia: Improving the Skills of Health Workers (through the ACCESS Program)
In Ethiopia, ACCESS is improving the quality of essential maternal and newborn health care (EMNC) services by building the capacity of training institutions for health workers. With ACCESS assistance, Health Officers (HOs) and Health Extension Workers (HEWs) are being trained in EMNC, including...
Ghana: Expanding Maternal and Neonatal Health Activities (through the ACCESS Program)
The ACCESS Program in Ghana builds on current Maternal and Neonatal Health (MNH) activities being carried out by the USAID-supported Quality Health Partners (QHP) program. Drawing on the efforts of Jhpiego—a key QHP partner—to improve the preservice education of health service providers, ACCESS...
Guinea: Expanding Postabortion Care and Family Planning Services (through the ACCESS Program)
ACCESS supports USAID/Guinea’s 1998-2005 Country Strategic objective (increased use of FP/MCH and STI/AIDS prevention services and products) through the provision of technical assistance to expand postabortion care (PAC) services to Guinea’s Forest Region. Simultaneously, with funds leveraged...
Haiti: Strengthening Maternal and Newborn Health and Family Planning (through the ACCESS Program)
The ACCESS programs in Haiti aim to strengthen family planning (FP) services through a range of interventions and increase the timely use of key maternal and newborn health (MNH) practices, including the prevention and treatment of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT). In addition to...
India: Training Midwives to Conduct Safer Births (through the ACCESS Program)
In 2006, ACCESS, along with CEDPA, began work in the Dumka district of Jharkand State. The project aims to increase access to skilled community midwives. ACCESS initiated this effort in response to a policy change allowing auxiliary midwives to provide a broader range of life-saving services. As...
Kenya: Supporting Efforts in Maternal and Newborn Health Across the Continuum of Care (through the ACCESS Program)
In Kenya, ACCESS is implementing innovative approaches across the continuum of care for health promotion, disease prevention and treatment of conditions affecting women and their families. The USAID-funded program, begun in 2005, focuses on national- and provincial-level activities that fill gaps...
Madagascar: Prevention and Management of Malaria in Pregnancy (through the ACCESS Program)
ACCESS is helping to prevent and manage malaria in pregnancy (MIP) in Madagascar through its participation in the Malaria Action Coalition (MAC). In addition to providing technical support to the National Malaria Control Program, the National Safe Motherhood Program, and drug agency programs,...
Malawi: Increasing Utilization of Maternal and Newborn Health Services (through the ACCESS Program)
In Malawi, ACCESS is improving the availability of and access to sustainable maternal and newborn health services at the facility and community levels. Specifically, ACCESS is supporting Ministry of Health and USAID efforts to increase utilization of these services and the practice of healthy...
Nepal: Increasing Skilled Birth Attendance to Reduce Maternal and Newborn Mortality (through the ACCESS Program)
With 80% of the Nepal’s population living in rural areas amid challenging topography, most women in Nepal still deliver at home and without the support and care of a skilled healthcare provider. When the ACCESS Program started, available data from the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS...
Nigeria: Increasing Use of High-Quality Services (through the ACCESS Program)
With funding from USAID/Nigeria, ACCESS has designed and is implementing a three and half-year program focused on increasing the use of high-quality emergency obstetric, newborn and family planning services in two northern Nigerian states—Zamfara and Kano. Beginning with two local government...
Rwanda: Safe Birth Africa Initiative (through the ACCESS Program)
ACCESS is participating in USAID''s Safe Birth Africa Initiative in Rwanda to demonstrate large-scale sustainable results in increasing the accessibility and utilization of safe delivery services. The initiative, which began in November 2006, aims to increase the access to skilled birth...
South Africa: Strengthening Maternal, Newborn and HIV-related Health Care Services (through the ACCESS Program)
In South Africa, ACCESS works closely with the Department of Health to improve the quality of maternal, newborn and HIV-related health care services. Specifically, ACCESS works to strengthen service delivery in the prevention of mother to child (PMTCT) transmission; to increase capacity to...
Tanzania: Improving Maternal and Newborn Care (through the ACCESS Program)
With funding from USAID, ACCESS is leading efforts to develop and expand focused antenatal care (FANC) as a platform for maternal and child health interventions in Tanzania. Using clinical training, community interventions, and advocacy, ACCESS is working to build the capacity of health providers...
West Africa Regional Program: Building Capacity in Essential and Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care from the Clinic to the Community (through the ACCESS Program)
From 2004-2007, the ACCESS/West Africa program aimed to replicate best practices in maternal and newborn health in four non-USAID presence countries: Cameroon, Mauritania, Niger and Togo. ACCESS worked with the Action for West Africa Region-Reproductive Health (AWARE-RH), Mwangaza Action, UNICEF,...
