Welcome to the Publication Archives of USAID-funded Health Policy Projects.

Browse POLICY Project (1995-2006) Materials

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List entries are alphabetical by title and contain the title, abstract, language, and then the filename which is hyperlinked and will open in a new browser window. Many files are PDFs but some of the older ones are Word documents.

1999

  • French
    AdvocacyManual_Fr.pdf

  • English
    SEImpact_Africa.PDF

  • English
    angola.pdf

  • English
    benin.pdf

  • English
    botswana.pdf

  • English
    burkina.pdf

  • English
    congodrc.pdf

  • English
    cotedivo.pdf

  • English
    ethiopia.pdf

  • English
    ghana.pdf

  • English
    kenya.pdf

  • English
    madagasc.pdf

  • English
    mali.pdf

  • English
    mozambiq.pdf

  • English
    namibia.pdf

  • English
    nigeria.pdf

  • English
    rwanda.pdf

  • English
    senegal.pdf

  • English
    southafr.pdf

  • English
    swazilan.pdf

  • English
    tanzania.pdf

  • English
    uganda.pdf

  • English
    zambia.pdf

  • English
    zimbabwe.pdf

  • English
    fpeb.pdf

  • It is through advocacy—a set of targeted actions in support of a specific cause—that a supportive and self-sustaining environment for family planning and reproductive health goals can be created. This training manual was prepared to help representatives of NGOs and other formal groups of civil society form and maintain advocacy networks and develop effective family planning/reproductive health advocacy skills. The manual's tools and approaches can be used to affect FP/RH policy decisions at the international, national, regional, and local levels. The manual is based on the principle that advocacy strategies and methods can be learned. The building blocks of advocacy are the formation of networks, the identification of political opportunities, and the organization of campaigns. The manual includes a section on each of these building blocks, with specific subjects presented in individual units. Units within each section contain background notes, learning objectives, and handouts. While the manual can be used in its entirety, it is designed to be used in sections depending on the particular needs of the network. The manual promises to be a useful and practical tool for NGOs and other organizations committed to improving the quality of family planning and reproductive health programs.
    English
    AdvocacyManual_esp.pdf

  • English
    Ethadhiv.pdf

  • RAPID Booklet for Madhya Pradesh
    English
    INDmp.pdf

  • It is through advocacy—a set of targeted actions in support of a specific cause—that a supportive and self-sustaining environment for family planning and reproductive health goals can be created. This training manual was prepared to help representatives of NGOs and other formal groups of civil society form and maintain advocacy networks and develop effective family planning/reproductive health advocacy skills. The manual's tools and approaches can be used to affect FP/RH policy decisions at the international, national, regional, and local levels. The manual is based on the principle that advocacy strategies and methods can be learned. The building blocks of advocacy are the formation of networks, the identification of political opportunities, and the organization of campaigns. The manual includes a section on each of these building blocks, with specific subjects presented in individual units. Units within each section contain background notes, learning objectives, and handouts. While the manual can be used in its entirety, it is designed to be used in sections depending on the particular needs of the network. The manual promises to be a useful and practical tool for NGOs and other organizations committed to improving the quality of family planning and reproductive health programs.
    English
    AdvocacyManual.pdf

  • As countries try to allocate limited public sector funds for family planning effectively and efficiently, there is increasing interest in understanding and measuring clients' ability to pay for services. If public funds are not sufficient to serve the entire population, they should be targeted to users who are less able to pay. Ideally, women with some ability to pay for health care services should use the private sector, at least for less costly contraceptive methods. This paper presents a methodology for describing the extent to which government subsidies are efficiently applied, that is, to users who could not otherwise afford their contraceptive methods. It examines national family planning markets that include both government and commercial providers and in which government resources are not sufficient to provide universal family planning coverage. Using Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data from 11 countries, the analysis shows that the commercial sector market share is higher for less expensive contraceptive methods and that women who make use of private sector maternal and child health care services are more likely to use commercial outlets for contraception. Distortions in this general pattern emerge in countries that over-subsidize certain contraceptive methods, particularly oral contraceptives, to the detriment of the commercial sector. Findings from this analysis can provide insights for further exploration of potential problems such as untargeted government subsidies for less expensive methods or lack of access for clinical methods.
    English
    wps-04.pdf

  • This brief describes a study conducted in several developing countries to estimate the impact of unwantedness and number of children on several measures of child health, with a special focus on illness, treatment, and preventive care. Research findings and conclusions (1) provide support for the notion that unwanted children suffer health consequences; (2) present evidence in favor of measures to help parents attain their family size goals; and (3) recommend that governments strengthen vaccination programs to ensure 100-percent coverage and promote medical treatment for all children in case of illness.
    English
    pm-02.pdf

  • El SIDA ha sido uno de los mayores retos para las
    Spanish
    op-03es.pdf

  • Le SIDA représente depuis 20 ans un défi de taille
    French
    op-03fr.pdf

  • AIDS has presented a major challenge to African societies during the last two decades. Governments throughout the region have struggled to develop effective policies and programs to address the epidemic. This report presents case studies of the policy process in nine Anglophone African countries. Each country has employed a unique approach to policy development; the results are equally diverse. This report describes some of the country experiences and highlights areas of similarity and difference as well as major problems addressed by Anglophone African countries. The information has been distilled into a framework that captures key elements of the policymaking process. The major components of the framework are as follows: Problem identification and need recognition. Countries have passed through several stages in their response to the AIDS epidemic, including medical response, public health response, multisectoral response, and focused prevention and treatment. During the early phases, countries saw little need for a comprehensive AIDS policy. However, the need for a policy response grew as countries adopted multisectoral approaches to the epidemic and the broad impacts of AIDS on human rights, economic growth, society, and families emerged. Information collection. Once a decision to develop a policy is made, the next step usually is to obtain expert opinion—through consultant reports, interviews, or workshops. Drafting. Drafting is usually the task of small working committees. Some countries drafted policies quickly with a minimum of outside participation while others relied on a number of drafting committees that sought input and consensus from a range of interests. Review. In some cases, draft policies were debated widely and reviewed by thousands of people as a result of special regional meetings and dissemination efforts. In other cases, little outside review took place. As a consequence, policies often languished, with no champions pushing for review and approval. Approval. National AIDS policies have been approved at one of three levels: the minister of health, the cabinet, or Parliament. Implementation. Some policies have been implemented through operational or strategic plans or through the establishment of committees to develop operational guidelines. In many cases, elements of the policy can be implemented even before the full policy is adopted. Interest groups may be encouraged to take the lead in disseminating and implementing parts of the policy that are of particular interest to them. Most policies contain some components that can be implemented immediately though administrative actions; other components require efforts to develop specific legislation and to obtain funding. Each country policy addresses a large number of specific issues. Despite several cultural, social, and legal differences among the countries studied, the issues surrounding key policy topics show many similarities. The following are among the topics that were most difficult to resolve: HIV counseling and testing; pre-employment testing; orphans; AIDS education in schools; condom advertising; mandatory condom use in brothels; condom distribution in prisons; willful transmission of HIV; and HIV and abortion. In some instances when it was difficult to achieve consensus, policymakers simply eliminated issues from policy consideration. For example, most policies do not address willful transmission of HIV. In other cases, vague wording requires the issue to be addressed in national policy, with the exact meaning left to interpretation through implementation guidelines. The key lessons that have emerged from the case studies are summarized below. Identifying AIDS as a problem does not translate into recognition of the need for a comprehensive AIDS policy. The need for a comprehensive policy may become apparent only when the epidemic becomes so severe that a large portion of the population is affected or when the advocacy efforts of specific groups convince decision makers of the importance of a policy response. There are many approaches to drafting and review. Some countries rely on a high level of participation. Although greater participation lengthens the time required for drafting and review, it builds momentum for the policy and often shortens the time required for approval. As a result, highly participatory approaches may actually require less time for policy development than policies drafted rapidly by a small group of experts who then struggle for years to gain approval. The most participatory processes have produced the broadest policies covering a wide range of key issues. Such policies, it is expected, will prove to be the most effective, but the outcome remains to be demonstrated. Once approved, policies can be implemented in many ways. Some aspects of a policy (such as approval of condom advertising) may be implemented directly, in some cases even before the policy is formally approved. Other policy issues can be implemented only through enabling legislation, with the development of guidelines, or as part of a strategic plan. Countries may lack the resources to implement all facets of a policy at once. Interest groups may need to take the lead in advocating for the implementation of specific portions of the policy that most interest them.
    English
    op-03.pdf

  • This brief presents a study of local elected leaders and the planning process for health at the decentralized level. The objectives of the study were to understand socio-demographic characteristics of the local elected leaders and their knowledge and attitudes about reproductive health; what local elected leaders and health technicians know of their own and each others’ roles in the context of decentralization; how health planning is carried out since decentralization; and the role civil society representatives play in the health planning process.
    English
    pm-03.pdf