A reproductive health needs assessment in Myanmar

A Reproductive Health Needs Assessment in Myanmar
Preparation of the draft report
In the field, the team met frequently to consolidate its observations and identify key issues
that needed further attention in the subsequent field visits. Each team member also prepared
their field visit notes. The consolidated observations and the field notes were utilized to
finalize the field observations for inclusion in the report. After the field visits, the team
reviewed its observations and discussed recommendations to address the findings arising
from the field observations. Then the team discussed ways to operationalize the reproductive
health care services in Myanmar. A sub-group of team members were responsible for writing
the first draft of each of the chapters. These were then reviewed by the team, and revised in
an iterative process as discussions continued between team members and other interested
parties.
Dissemination meeting
A dissemination meeting comprising largely of the same participants as that of the
stakeholders workshop was held on 28 May 1998. At this workshop the assessment team’s
recommendations were presented in the context of the major field observations and recent
secondary data. Participants provided their insights and feedback to the team regarding the
findings and recommendations. These were generally endorsed, and some issues were raised
which needed either further elaboration or clarification.
Finalization of the report
The draft report was revised based on the discussions during the dissemination workshop and
was reviewed by the assessment team towards the end of June 1998. The final draft was
presented to UNFPA at the beginning of August.
STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT
This report presents the findings and recommendations for the reproductive health needs
assessment in Myanmar. The next four chapters discuss and contextualize the assessment
teams findings in terms of the four priority areas of reproductive health: maternal health; birth
spacing; HIV/AIDS; and adolescent reproductive health. These chapters are followed by a
chapter entitled Conclusions and Recommendations which looks at the cross-cutting issues in
reproductive health services, and presents the teams recommendations. The final chapter of
the report addresses the issue of operationalizing these recommendations into a clear
reproductive health programme in Myanmar.
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