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 in critical technical areas of maternal and newborn health.

ACCESS technical areas include:

* HIV/AIDS—specifically counseling and testing, prevention of mother-to-child transmission and treatment/antiretroviral therapy;

* Reproductive health—including family planning and management of reproductive tract cancers;

* Maternal and newborn health—including prevention of postpartum hemorrhage and improvements in antenatal care; and

* Malaria—including malaria in pregnancy, case management and introduction of ACT.


ACCESS works with the central Ministry of Health to: a) adopt and adapt emerging technical innovations; b) prepare state-of-the-art, standardized learning materials; c) develop national- and provincial-level resource persons; and d) provide technical assistance to implement these innovations through the AIDS, Population, Health Integrated Assistance Program1 (APHIA II) structure.

ACCESS-FP in Kenya is working with Frontiers in Reproductive Health and the Kenyan Ministry of Health on an operations research study aimed at strengthening postnatal care with postpartum family planning emphasized as a key component. The study is being implemented in four facilities in Embu District. A comprehensive postnatal care package has been developed and implemented in country. The program is also working to reestablish the IUD as a postpartum contraceptive option.

About ACCESS:

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 the aim of making quality health services accessible for women and newborns. Jhpiego implements the program in partnership with Save the Children, Constella Futures, the Academy for Educational Development, the American College of Nurse-Midwives and Interchurch Medical Assistance.