THE NATIONAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PROGRAM: Formulating a Strategy

Project Dates: 1989-1994

• Purpose
• Overview
• Lessons Learned
• Materials Produced

Purpose

The purpose of this activity was to assist the IEC Subcommission of the National Reproductive Health Program (NRHP) in the design and implementation of an IEC strategy for reproductive health communication.

Overview

JHU/PCS assisted the 17 institutions from the public and private sectors participating in the NRHP IEC Subcommission in gaining the skills needed to:

1. Design a 5-year communication strategy;



2. Implement IEC activities ranging from producing a coordinated set of client oriented print materials to producing and validating an interpersonal communication training curriculum for health service providers;



3. Enhance informed choice through the dissemination of information through an audio cassette series for city buses and educational videos for in-clinic use; and



4. Design and implementation of a national integrated mass media RH campaign.

The IEC Subcommission produced the first national logo to represent the NRHP and its participating institutions, as well as a coordinated set of client-provider informational print materials for use by health service providers throughout the country. These materials underwent three rounds of pretesting in six cities and towns. A series of three Reproductive Health videos for in-clinic use were been produced, and four one-hour audio cassettes for buses were used. The first national reproductive health mass media campaign in Bolivia's history was launched in the last year of the strategy. JHU/PCS provided on-going training opportunities to IEC Subcommission member agencies throughout the life of the program.

Lessons Learned

The IEC Subcommission of the NRHP demonstrated that inter-institutional collaboration works. Rather than competing for scarce resources, NRHP agencies pooled their efforts for greater power and impact. This has given legitimacy to the institutionalization of reproductive health in Bolivia. Since the materials were developed by the participating organizations, this collaborative effort ensures that the materials will be accepted and used properly by all NRHP institutions. Further, without the NRHP, it is unlikely that most of the institutions involved would have been able to develop their own materials due to limited resources and skills.

Materials Produced