Quality in Health (Calidad en Salud)

URC worked in partnership with the Ministry of Health’s National Reproductive Health Program to provide family planning services. Calidad en Salud helped the Ministry increase access to family planning services and contraceptives, especially in rural areas, which tend to have high fertility rates. The project built national capacity to provide an integrated and holistic approach to strengthen the health system, focusing in particular on maternal, neonatal, child, and reproductive health. Calidad worked to increase family planning services, create demand for contraceptives through communication strategies, and address cultural and institutional barriers to family planning service use.

• Average fertility declined from five children per woman in 1999 to 3.6 in 2009; the national decline in fertility parallels project efforts
• Contraceptive prevalence increased from 38% in 1999 to 54% in 2009; users doubled from 2004–2009, climbing from 270,000 to 570,000 
• Helped to build a workforce of trained and skilled personnel, introduce equipment for IUD insertion and sterilization procedures, and develop national norms for family planning care
• Family planning services are offered at no charge at over 1200 health delivery points within the Ministry’s network of services