Conference Program Guide - ESD Project

Scaling-Up Best Practices: A Snapshot 

ESD grantees have worked since 2007 to scale-up best practices in reproductive health and family 

planning. 

Technical assistance from ESD has been a key component of scaling-up best practices. 

Strong M&E systems mean improved care for newborns and mothers.

Reconvening Bangkok: 2007 to 2010—Progress Made and Lessons Learned 

6-11 March 2010 ● Page 3 

Scaling-Up Best Practices: A Snapshot 

ESD grantees have worked since 2007 to scale-up best practices in reproductive health and family 

planning. 

Male involvement and reaching rural populations with reproductive health and family 

planning services are inclusive in many countries’ plans for scaling-up.

Thank You to Our Partners 


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 4 

This technical meeting would not have been possible without the assistance of the following partners. The meeting 

planners are grateful to them and to the Technical Meeting Core Planning Team, session leaders and technical area 

coordinators for their continued support to this meeting and to the issues of family planning and maternal, 

newborn, and child health in Asia and the Middle East. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) 

The Extending Service Delivery Project (ESD) 

- Pathfinder International 

- IntraHealth International 

- Management Sciences for Health (MSH) 

- Meridian Group International 

World Health Organization (WHO) 

Implementing Best Practices in Reproductive Health (IBP) 

Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP) 

The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (WRA) 

Health Care Improvement Project, University Research Co.-Center for Human Services (HCI/URC-CHS) 

ExpandNet 

The Georgetown University Institute for Reproductive Health (GU/IRH) 

ACCESS Program and the ACCESS Family Planning Initiative (ACCESS-FP) 

This event was made possible through support provided by the Bureau for Asia and the Middle East, Bureau for 

Global Health and Office of Population and Reproductive Health, USAID, under the terms of Award No. GPO-A- 

00-05-00027-00 with Pathfinder International and by the USAID Global Health Technical Assistance Project. The 

opinions expressed at this event are those of the author(s)/presenter(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of 

USAID.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 5 

Table of Contents 

Conference Partners and Supporters .............................................................7 

Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................8 

General Information........................................................................................9 

Meeting Highlights.........................................................................................10 

At a Glance Schedule.....................................................................................13 

Daily Schedule................................................................................................15 

List of Sessions by Topic................................................................................30 

Technical Session Descriptions by Topic** ..................................................31 

Maternal Health (MAT) Sessions .....................................................................................32 

Newborn, Infant and Child Health (NIC) Sessions.........................................................38 

Family Planning (FP) Sessions..........................................................................................45 

Scaling-Up (SCL) Sessions ................................................................................................60 

Cross-Cutting Sessions ......................................................................................................65 

Country Team Information………………………………………………….71 

Presenter Biographies....................................................................................72 

Hotel Maps………………………………………………………………………………..89 

**Acronyms for Technical Sessions: 

MAT=Maternal Health 

NIC=Newborn, Infant and Child Health 

FP=Family Planning 

SC=Scaling-Up 

CC=Crosscutting 

P=Plenary 

C=Concurrent Session 

SL=Skills Lab 

SB=Skill Building Workshop


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 6 

Reconvening Bangkok. 

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Extending Service Delivery Project (ESD) and 

other partners cordially welcome you back to Bangkok to revisit what we have learned since the first technical meeting 

held here in 2007. It is with excitement and enthusiasm that we reconvene to share, learn, and discuss ways of scaling-up 

family planning and maternal, newborn, and child health best practices in Asia and the Middle East. 

You and your fellow participants are returning to Bangkok from governments, national and international NGOs, civil 

society organizations, faith-based organizations, USAID Missions, and multilateral organizations, such as WHO, 

UNICEF, and UNFPA. You are arriving with a shared purpose: to discuss the effective mechanisms you have employed 

since 2007 and a shared vision—to continue to reduce maternal, newborn, and infant/child mortality and morbidity in 

this region. 

Learning from Others. 

ESD and its partners believe that the key to reaching this vision is through the widespread sharing of promising and 

proven practices. It is only by learning from one another, and from these evidence-based global practices that we can 

help the women and men of Asia and the Middle East to access health services, improve self-care and successfully plan, 

space, and healthfully deliver their children, resulting in better health outcomes for the entire family. 

Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 have challenged us to disseminate best practices from around the world. This 

technical meeting is designed to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor conference and to continue to help all of you to 

meet that challenge. We hope that you arrive ready to discuss, debate, teach, and learn. 

Country Team Collaboration. 

Over 350 participants are expected here. More than 30 technical sessions with over 110 presenters are planned. 

Renowned expert speakers will be here to share their experiences and knowledge. The schedule also provides 

opportunities for country collaboration meetings to provide a forum for different groups to coordinate their scale-up 

activities. Every effort has been made to give you time to collaborate and consult with your colleagues. 

Moving Forward: From Action Plans to Demonstration to Scaling-Up 

We hope that you leave the meeting with an action plan and a sense of purpose. With the knowledge you gain and the 

connections you make with fellow public health professionals, you should return home with the necessary technical 

skills to help scale-up your action plan from one demonstration site to a plethora of healthcare facilities across your 

country. Individual efforts to scale-up best practices will inevitably lead the region closer to reaching Millennium 

Development Goals 4 and 5 and save the lives of thousands of women and babies. By learning about the results from 

other countries that have successfully scaled-up high-impact best practices, we hope you will be inspired to follow in 

their footsteps and produce successful results of your own. 

Thank you for joining us here in Bangkok and for your contributions to the health of families in Asia and the Middle 

East. 

Sincerely, 

Milka Dinev, MBA 

Director, Extending Service Delivery (ESD) Project

Conference Partners and Supporters 


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 7


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 8 

Acknowledgements 

The meeting planners would like to acknowledge the time, energy and effort put forth into the development of this 

agenda and the success of this meeting by the core planning team, facilitators, and mission mobilization partners. 

Koki Agarwal Steve Hodgins Ruth Simmons 

Halida Akhter Mohammad Isa Chelsea Smart 

Nabeel Akram Victoria Jennings Jeff Smith 

Ali Arbaji Josef de Graft-Johnson Cathy Solter 

Marcos Arevalo Daniel Kraushaar Jeff Spieler 

Sharon Arscot Mills Kirsten Krueger Suzy Srouji 

Nawal Baabaad Jennifer Mason Gloria Steele 

Theodora Biney-Amissah Catharine McKaig Kristen Stelljes 

Salwa Bitar Faiz Mohammad Nandita Thatte 

Thada Bornstein Monique Mosolf Aye Aye Thwin 

Lisa Bowen Mubarakshah Mubarak Maggie Usher-Patel 

Fabio Castano Pauline Muhuhu Ton Van Der Velden 

Gary Cook Maureen Norton Ria Wardani 

Carolyn Curtis Tara O’Day Joan Woods 

Patricia Daly D.P. Raman Michelle Wu 

Lourdes de la Peza Rushna Ravji Teodulo Clemente de Ximenes 

Milka Dinev Charito Remata-Redoblado Kristina Yarrow 

Brenda Doe 

Suzanne Reier 

Laura Ghiron 

Deirdre Russo 

Victoria Graham 

Gloria Sangiwa 

Patricia Gomez 

Marietou Satin 

Hamouda Hanafi 

Diana Silimperi 

The meeting planners would also like to acknowledge the time, energy and effort offered by the following people who 

provided all organizational and logistical support and without whom this meeting would not have been possible. 

Birsen Bayazit 

Peggy D’Adamo 

Maribel Diaz 

Terra Fretwell 

Margaret Giovannetti 

Amanda Hovland 

Laurel Lundstrom 

Sasithorn Nontleeraksa (Tum) 

Arman Purnama 

ATOP Support Staff 

Shannon Pryor 

Caroline Tran 

Seda Yener 

Shangri-La Hotel Management and Staff


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 9 

General Information 

BUSINESS CENTER 

The Business Center at the Shangri-La Hotel is 

located on the 1 st Floor. The hours of the Business 

Center are 07:00 to 22:00. 

INCIDENTAL CHARGES 

Please be aware that any incidental charges you 

incur during your stay at the Shangri-La, such as 

for the mini bar, room service, or telephone calls, 

will not be charged to ESD. All personal charges 

should be settled with the hotel before your 

departure. 

INTERNET ACCESS 

ESD has arranged for participants to have 

complimentary, in-room access to the Internet 

while staying at the Shangri-La Hotel. Meeting 

participants do not need access to a wireless card to 

access the in-room connection. 

MEALS 

The location of the meals can be found in your 

daily schedule. Please note that due to multicultural 

nature of this meeting and cultural sensitivity to all 

of our participants, we will not be serving alcohol 

during any official events. 

NAME BADGES 

Please wear your name badge at all times, as it will 

be required for entry into technical meeting 

sessions as well as social events. 

TICKET CONFIRMATION 

You may contact the concierge of the hotel directly 

for your flight reconfirmation or reservation. 

TECHNOLOGY ROOM 

The Technology Room is located in Peppino Room 

on the 3 rd Floor and will mainly serve those 

participants who have the time to go through the e- 

Learning modules presented during the technical 

meeting. The Technology Room should only be 

used for very limited personal use and minimal 

printing. 

TRANSPORTATION 

Airport transportation is provided by the Technical 

Meeting Conference Organizer, ATOP. The flight 

information you submitted to the ESD Project has 

been received by ATOP. If there are any changes to 

your flight information, please bring this 

information to the technical meeting secretariat. It 

is advised that you depart from the hotel at least 

three hours prior to your flight departure. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

Time GMT plus 7 hours 

Electricity 220V, 50 Hz 

International Outgoing IDD 001 

City Call please use city code (02) 

SAFETY AND SECURITY 

Please do not leave any of your personal 

belongings unattended during technical meeting 

sessions and events. Please check with hotel 

concierge for lost and found items. 

SECRETARIAT 

The Secretariat Room is located in the Chairman 

Room on the 1 st Floor. 

SPEAKER READY ROOM 

The Speaker Ready Room will be located in the 

Boardroom Suite on the 1 st Floor for those who 

would like an opportunity to review or practice 

their presentations.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 10 

Meeting Highlights 

Welcome to Bangkok: Our Host City 

Bangkok is Thailand's capital and largest city and its administrative, economic, and cultural center. Yet within this 

modern city are hidden amazing historical treasures. These sights include the Grand Palace, a fantastic complex with 

gilded stupas (domelike shrines to Buddha). The palace is a living monument where people go to pay homage to the 

Buddha and their king. Nearby is the temple commonly known as Wat Po, where the large Reclining Buddha can be 

found. In addition, there is the famous Wat Arun, "the Temple of the Dawn"—the most recognized symbol of 

Thailand. 

We hope you will enjoy your experiences in this historic and beautiful city. 

Facilitated Country Team Meetings 

The end goal of this technical meeting is to explore what worked, what could be better, and where we can go from here. 

Country teams will discuss lessons learned since 2007, as well as new, promising best practices that they can consider as 

they develop action plans to introduce and spread the best practices upon return to their respective countries. Teams will 

utilize tested methodologies for scaling- up that will be shared on day one of the meeting. The multi-sectoral, high-level 

representation of the country teams will guarantee realism and a commitment to scale-up. The meeting schedule includes 

time each day for participants from the same countries to meet in a facilitated environment to achieve these goals. 

Country teams will present and discuss their action plans with their fellow countries on Thursday morning, the last day 

of the meeting. 

Plenary Sessions 

Each plenary session will offer state-of-the-art 

knowledge from international and AME regional experts 

of the specific meeting topics: Newborn, Infant and 

Child Health (NIC), Maternal Health (MAT), Family 

Planning (FP)/Healthy Timing and Spacing of 

Pregnancy (HTSP), Cross-Cutting (CC) and Scaling- 

Up (SCL). Each session will offer an overview of key 

strategies, global health policies/strategies and 

approaches, and successful program case studies. In 

addition, each plenary has an allocated slot for a country 

team or ESD grantee to present successes and lessons 

learned from introducing or spreading best practices as a 

result of the 2007 technical meeting. The plenary 

sessions will also highlight the technical topics that will 

be covered over the course of the meeting. They are an 

excellent introduction to the more specific concurrent 

technical sessions, skills labs, and skills building 

workshops of the meeting. 

Poster Session Discussions 

Discuss ideas and exchange experiences with other 

development professionals in these informal poster 

sessions, to be held in the main foyer at the opening 

reception. 

An Exhibition of 

Traditional Thai Dancing 

On Saturday evening, the opening ceremony will be 

followed by an enjoyable gala dinner with an 

exhibition of traditional Thai Dancing. 

Thai traditional dance is one of the truly graceful 

aspects of the country and is quite symbolic of the 

Thai character itself. To see these beautifully 

costumed dancers patiently miming the ancient 

stories, which were originally developed and 

performed as entertainment for the royal court, is a 

treat that makes even modern audiences feel 

privileged. 

The form is very strict, employing 108 basic 

movements and keeping the body upright from the 

neck to the hips, moving up and down using only 

the knees, and stretching to the rhythm of the 

music. A great deal of symbolism and importance is 

displayed in complex and beautifully executed 

finger and hand movements. Sometimes six-inch, 

specially designed fingernails add to the effect and 

complement the splendor of the spectacularly 

ornate costumes. All of it combines to produce a 

most memorable experience of Thailand.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 11 

Active Learning Sessions 

We are pleased to offer a variety of Active Learning sessions to participants at the technical meeting. Many of these 

sessions are informal and will provide different types of learning opportunities to allow participants to learn by doing: 

Skills Labs 

Opportunities for participants to observe procedures, learn new skills, and discuss critical issues in a smaller group 

setting. 

Skills Building Workshops 

Software, tools, and promising methods that help promote best practices in FP/MNCH. Expect hands-on tools, small 

group work, and lively discussion. 

USAID Global Health e-Learning Courses 

Internet-based courses that allow professionals to remain current on global health topics at their own convenience. 

E-Learning log-in instructions: 

1. Go to www.globalhealthlearning.org and enter in your email address (user name) and 

password. 

2. If you have not registered before, choose “register” and fill in all information. 

Registration takes less than 5 minutes. 

3. Once in the site, click on the “Courses” tab on the left hand side. Here you will see 

the complete list of published courses that you make take. 

4. Choose the course you are interested in and begin learning! 

Other websites of interest include: 

www.ibpinitiative.org/ 

www.who.int/reproductivehealth/en/ 

www.who.int/hrp/en/index.html 

www.k4health.org


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 12 

Opening Session 

Speakers 

Ms. Milka Dinev, Program Director, the 

Extending Service Delivery (ESD) Project 

Ms. Dinev has 28 years of experience in the 

management of development projects, 

including administration, accounting, and 

finance. As Pathfinder International’s Country 

Representative for Peru and Ecuador, Ms. 

Dinev was responsible for providing overall 

strategic direction to Pathfinder’s diverse 

family planning and sexual and reproductive 

health programs in Peru and Ecuador directly. 

She is currently serving as Director of ESD, a 

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: 

Dr. Siriwat Tiparadol 

Deputy Permanent Secretary, Thailand Ministry of Health 

Ms. Barbara Krell, MBA 

Deputy Mission Director, Regional Development Mission for 

Asia, USAID, Bangkok, Thailand 

Pathfinder International Global Reproductive Health/Family Planning Project based in Washington D.C., providing 

leadership to key project initiatives in HTSP, Corporate Social Responsibility, Involvement of Religious Leaders, 

Best Practices, and Postabortion Care and to activities in the following countries: Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, 

Nepal, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Yemen. She speaks and writes fluent Spanish, English, French and Bulgarian. Ms. 

Dinev is a Fisheries Engineer and holds an MBA with honors mention in Finance and Development Programs 

Management, a Diploma on Gender, and several diplomas on Development Project Management. 

Dr. Jeff Spieler, Senior Technical Advisor in Science and Technology in Population and Reproductive 

Health, USAID Bureau for Global Health 

Dr. Spieler has 38 years of experience working internationally on family planning and reproductive health. 

Currently, he is the Senior Technical Advisor in Science and Technology in Population and Reproductive Health 

under contract at USAID in the Bureau for Global Health. He has spent 26 years working in various capacities at 

USAID, and previously worked as a scientist in the Human Reproduction Program at the World Health 

Organization in Geneva and as a research biologist at Lederle Pharmaceutical Company, in Pearl River, New York. 

He is recognized as a worldwide expert in contraceptive technology, research in contraceptive development, the 

improvement of family planning service delivery, and research on HIV prevention, especially on microbicide 

development and male and female condoms. He earned a BSc in Zoology from the University of Florida in 1967, 

an MSc in Zoological Sciences/Reproductive Biology from Rutgers University in 1971, and an Honorary 

Doctorate in Public Service from the University of Florida in 2002. 

Closing Session 

On the final day of the technical meeting, country teams will have the opportunity to finalize and present their 

action plans to two other country teams that will generate constructive feedback for their counterparts as they work 

toward completion. 

At the Closing Session, certificates of attendance will be distributed, and certificates and prizes will be awarded for 

e-Learning achievement. Country teams will also be awarded certificates of achievement based on the progress 

made toward scaling-up best practices since the 2007 technical meeting and the soundness of the action plans 

developed during the current meeting. Jeff Spieler, Senior Technical Advisor for Science and Technology at 

USAID’s Bureau for Global Health, will present closing remarks and a social activity will be announced during the 

meeting that will take place on the afternoon of March 11th.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 13 

At a Glance Schedule 

7:00 

7:30 

8:00 

8:30 

9:00 

9:30 

10:00 

10:30 

Saturday 

6 March 

Registration/ Poster Set-Up/ Arrival of 

Participants/ Hotel Check-In 

(9:00 - 17:00) 

Facilitators' Meeting 

By Invitation Only 

Sunday 

7 March 

Breakfast/Registration 

(7:00 - 9:00) 

MAT-P1 

Achieving MDG 5: SOTA 

Approaches 

(9:00 - 11:00) 

Monday 

8 March 

Breakfast 

(7:00 - 9:00) 

FP-P1 

Family Planning as a Health 

Intervention 

(9:00 - 11:00) 

11:00 Coffee (11:00 -11:30) Coffee (11:00 -11:30) 

(10:00 - 12:00) 

11:30 

SCL-P1 

FP-P2 

Scaling-up Methodologies/ Three 

12:00 

Family Planning 

Different Approaches for 

Programmatic Issues 

Different Settings 

12:30 

(11:30 - 13:00) 

(11:30 - 13:00) 

13:00 

Lunch 

Lunch 

13:30 

Registration/ Preparation of 

(13:00 - 14:00) 

(13:00 - 14:00) 

14:00 Displays/ Arrival of Participants/ 

Hotel Check-In 

Concurrent Technical Sessions A Concurrent Technical Sessions B 

14:30 

(9:00 - 17:00) 

(14:00 - 15:00) 

(14:00 - 15:00) 

15:00 Coffee (15:00 - 15:30) Coffee (15:00 - 15:30) 

15:30 

16:00 

16:30 

Country Team Meetings 

(15:30 - 17:30) 


(15:30 - 17:30) 

17:00 

Reception and Poster Sessions 

17:30 

18:00 

18:30 

19:00 

(17:00 - 18:00) 

Opening Ceremony 

(18:00 - 19:30) 

Free 

Free 

(17:30 - 19:00) 

19:30 

(17:30 - 21:30) 

Dinner Cruise 

20:00 

Dinner / Folkloric Show 

(19:00 - 21:00) 

20:30 

(19:30 - 21:30) 

21:00 

Free 

(21:00 - 21:30)


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 14 

7:00 

7:30 

8:00 

8:30 

9:00 

9:30 

10:00 

Tuesday 

9 March 2010 

Breakfast 

(7:00 - 9:00) 

NIC-P1 

Achieving MDG 4: Neonatal 

SOTA Approaches 

Wednesday 

10 March 2010 

Breakfast 

(7:00 - 9:00) 

MAT-P2 

Managing Maternal Complications: 

Two Major Killers 

Thursday 

11 March 2010 

Breakfast 

(7:00 - 9:00) 

CC-P1 

Strong Health Systems. 

Great Health Impact. 

10:30 

(9:00 - 11:00) 

(9:00 - 11:00) 

(9:00 - 11:00) 

11:00 Coffee (11:00 - 11:30) Coffee (11:00 - 11:30) Coffee (11:00 - 11:30) 

11:30 

12:00 

12:30 

NIC-P2 

Child Health Big Picture: 

Scaling-Up Essential Childhood 

Services 

(11:30 - 13:00) 

FP-P3 

Family Planning/Reproductive 

Health Integration 

(11:30 - 13:00) 

Country Team Presentations 

Groups of 3 Teams Will Present to 

One Another 

(11:30 - 13:00) 

13:00 

13:30 

Lunch (13:00 - 14:00) Lunch (13:00 - 14:00) Lunch (13:00 - 14:00) 

14:00 

Concurrent Technical Sessions C 


Closing Ceremony 

14:30 

(14:00 - 15:00) 

(14:00 - 15:00) 

(14:00 - 15:00) 

15:00 Coffee (15:00 - 15:30) Coffee (15:00 - 15:30) 

15:30 

16:00 

16:30 

17:00 

17:30 


(15:30 - 17:30) 


(15:30 - 17:30) 

Social Activities 

(15:00 - 19:00) 

18:00 

18:30 

Free 

(17:30 - 19:30) 

19:00 

19:30 

Free 

(17:30 - 21:30) 

20:00 

20:30 

Farewell Dinner 

(19:30 - 21:30) 

Free/Departure of Participants 

(19:00 - 21:30) 

21:00


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 15 

Daily Schedule 

Locations of Breakout Rooms and Restaurants: 

Wing Level Room 

Shangri-La Wing 1 The Garden Gallery 

The Valley Room 1, 2 

The Boardroom Suite 

The Study 

The Chairman’s Room 

Shangri-La Wing 2 The Grand Ballroom (1, 2, 3) 

Shangri-La Wing 3 Peppino 

Shangri-La Wing By the river Next 2 Restaurant 

Krungthep Wing 3 Singapore Room 

Malaysia Room 

Indonesia Room 

Vietnam Room 

Philippines Room 1, 2 

Brunei Room 1, 2 

Myanmar Room 1, 2, 3 

Saturday, 6 March 2010 

9:00-17:00 Meeting Registration/ Arrival of Participants Room: Ballroom Foyer 

10:00-12:00 Facilitators’ Meeting Room: The Chairman 

17:00-18:00 Welcome Reception and Poster Sessions Room: Ballroom Foyer 

18:00-19:30 Opening Ceremony Room: Ballroom 2, 3 

Welcome 

Ms. Milka Dinev 

Project Director, Extending Service Delivery (ESD) Project 

Keynote Speakers 

Ms. Barbara Krell, MBA 

Deputy Mission Director, Regional Development Mission for Asia, USAID, Bangkok, Thailand 

Dr. Siriwat Tiparadol 

Deputy Permanent Secretary, Thailand Ministry of Health 

Technical Priorities and Best Practices in Family Planning/Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health 

(FP/MNCH): Achieving the MDGs 

Dr. Jeff Spieler 

Senior Technical Advisor for Science and Technology, Office of Population and Reproductive Health, 

Bureau for Global Health, USAID 

Technical Meeting Overview/Vote of Thanks 

Ms. Milka Dinev 

19:30-21:30 Dinner/ Folkloric Show Room: Ballroom 2, 3

Sunday, 7 March 2010 

7:00-9:00 Registration and Breakfast Room: Ballroom Foyer 

9:00-11:00 MATERNAL PLENARY: Room: Ballroom 2, 3 

(MAT-P1) Achieving Millennium Development Goal 5: State of the Art Approaches 

MODERATOR 

Dr. Diana Silimperi, MD 

Vice President, Center for Health Services, Management Sciences for Health 

INTERACTIVE DISCUSSIONS AND PANELISTS 

Big Picture: Improving Service Delivery Strategies for Maternal Health in Asia 

Dr. Marge Koblinsky, PhD 

Senior Women’s Health Advisor, John Snow, Inc. 

Maximizing the Impact of Key Interventions in Preventing Maternal Mortality and Morbidity 

Dr. Harshad Sanghvi, MD 

Vice President and Medical Director, JHPIEGO 

Reducing Maternal Mortality in Tamil Nadu – the NRHM Experience 

Ms. Girija Vaidyanathan, MSc, CFA, IAS 

Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission and Commissioner, Maternal and Child 

Health, Tamil Nadu, India 

Reducing Maternal and Neonatal Mortality in the Referral District Hospital through the Best 

Practices Implementation Package (Comprehensive Emergency Obstetrics and Neonatal 

Care) 

Dr. George Adriaansz, MD, DRM&B, MPH 

Chairman of National Clinical Training Network of Indonesia 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 

11:00-11:30 Coffee Break Room: Ballroom Foyer 

11:30-13:00 SCALING-UP PLENARY: Room: Ballroom 2, 3 

(SCL-P1) Scaling-Up Methodologies/Three Different Approaches for Different Settings 

MODERATOR 

Dr. Salwa Bitar, MD, MPH 

FP/MNCH Regional Advisor, Asia and Middle East, Extending Service Delivery (ESD) Project 


Nine Steps for Scaling-Up 

Dr. Ruth Simmons, PhD 

Professor Emerita, The University of Michigan, School of Public Health; President, Partners in 

Expanding Health Quality and Access 

Mobilizing Teams for Change: the Power of Improvement Collaboratives 

Dr. Youssef Tawfik, MBBCH, MPH 

Senior Quality Improvement Advisor, MNCH, University Research Co. 

Fostering Change to Scale-Up FP/MNCH Best Practices 

Ms. Lourdes de la Peza 

Principal Program Associate, Management Sciences for Health


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 17 

The Improvement Collaborative Approach and How It Helped Yemen’s Scaling-Up Efforts 

Dr. Hamouda B. Hanafi, MPH, DrPH 

Director, Basic Health Services Project, Pathfinder International, Yemen 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 

13:00-14:00 Lunch Room: Ballroom 1 

14:00-15:00 CONCURRENT TECHNICAL SESSIONS A 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 

(MAT-SL1) Hands-On Session on Integrated Use 

of AMTSL and Immediate Newborn Care 

Room: The Study 

PRESENTER 

Ms. Asmuyeni Muchtar, CM, Dra, MPH 

Technical Advisor for Midwifery Services, JHPIEGO, Indonesia 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(FP-SL1) Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM): Room: Myanmar 2 

A Critical Yet Underutilized Element of Maternal and Infant Health 

PRESENTER 

Ms. Priya Jha, MSW 

Country Representative, India, Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(FP-SL3) Contraceptive Café 

Room: Ballroom Foyer 

PRESENTER 

Dr. Jeff Spieler, PhD 

Senior Technical Advisor for Science and Technology, Office of Population and Reproductive 

Health, Bureau for Global Health, USAID 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(SCL-SB1) Scaling-Up: Improvement Collaboratives 

Room: Brunei 

PRESENTER 



___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(SCL-SB2) Fostering Change for Scaling-Up Best Practices 

Room: Philippines 

PRESENTERS 


Principal Program Associate, Management Sciences for Health Ibu Yeni 

Ms. Kristen Stelljes 

Senior Program Officer, Management Sciences for Health 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(SCL-SB3) Applying the Nine Steps Methodology 

for Developing a Scaling-Up Strategy 

Room: The Garden Gallery 

PRESENTERS 


Professor Emerita, the University of Michigan, School of Public Health 

President, Partners in Expanding Health Quality and Access


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 18 

Ms. Laura Ghiron, MPH 

Member, ExpandNet Secretariat 

Vice President, Partners in Expanding Health Quality and Access 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(CC-C2) Improved Maternal Health: 

Effective Approaches along the Continuum of Care 

MODERATOR 

Ms. Lisa Bowen, MPH 

Program Advisor, White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood 

Room: Indonesia 


Increasing Institutional Deliveries through Skilled Birth Attendants: Successful Strategies and 

Lessons Learned from Deoghar District in Jharkhand, India 

Dr. Manju Shukla, MD 

State Director, Jharkhand, Vistaar Project, IntraHealth International, Inc. 

Addressing Maternal Health in Cambodia through Vouchers 

Dr. Heng Chanlida, MD 

Community Health Specialist, Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia (RHAC) 

Dr. Chan Ketsana, MD 

Maternal and Child Health/Nutrition Team Leader, Reproductive and Child Health Alliance 

(RACHA) 

Improved Delivery of MNCHN Services through Strengthening of Village Health and Nutrition 

Days (VHNDs): Key Strategies and Lessons Learned from Uttar Pradesh, India 

Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh, MSW 

Senior Technical Advisor, Vistaar Project, IntraHealth International, Inc 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 

15:00-15:30 Coffee Break Room: Foyer 

15:30- 17:30 Country Team Meetings 

Breakout Room locations can be found on the Country Team Information page. 

17:30-21:30 Free


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 19 

Monday, 8 March 2010 

7:00-9:00 Breakfast Room: Next 2 

9:00-11:00 FAMILY PLANNING PLENARY: Room: Ballroom 2, 3 

(FP-P1) Family Planning: A Life-Saving Intervention for Women and Children 

MODERATOR 

Ms. Milka Dinev, MBA 



Family Planning Saves Lives: Achieving the MDGs 

Dr. Malcolm Potts, MB, BChir, PhD, FRCOG 

Bixby Professor of Population and Family Planning, School of Public Health, University of 

California, Berkeley 

How Increased Contraceptive Use Has Contributed to Reduced Maternal Mortality 

Dr. Sarah Clark, PhD 

Vice President and Director, Health Policy Initiative, Center for Policy and Advocacy, Futures 

Group 

Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy (HTSP): Moving Research into Practice to Save Lives 

and Promote Healthy Behaviors 

Dr. Maureen Norton, PhD 

Senior Technical Advisor, Office of Population and Reproductive Health, Bureau for Global 

Health, USAID 

Guest panelists will discuss: PRACHAR project, India; HAI’s Child Spacing Initiative, East 

Timor 

Scaling-Up Best Practices in Postpartum Services in Yemen 

Dr. Jamila Al Raebi, MD 

Deputy Minister of Public Health and Population, Yemen 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 



(FP-P2) Family Planning Programmatic Issues 

MODERATOR 





Plateauing CPR/Tipping Point 

Dr. Gadde Narayana, PhD 

Country Director, India, Futures Group 

Elements of Success in Family Planning Programming and 2008 Medical Eligibility Updates 

Dr. Mario R. Festin, MD, MS, MPHEd 

Coordinator, Promoting Family Planning, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, 

World Health Organization, Geneva


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 20 

Pakistan’s Experience in Scaling-Up FP/MNCH Best Practices: Scaling-Up Process, Progress to 

Date, Plans for the Future, and Challenges 

Dr. Rashid Jooma 

Director General of Health, Ministry of Health, Government of Pakistan 

Scaling-Up of Healthy Fertility and Postpartum Family Planning Rural Experiences in Urban 

Areas of Sylhet, Bangladesh 

Mr. Kazi Moksedur Rahman, CA 

Deputy Executive Director and Project Director, Shimantik, Bangladesh 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 


14:00-15:00 CONCURRENT TECHNICAL SESSIONS B 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 

(MAT-C1) Community-Based Approaches to Prevention 

and Management of Maternal Complications 


MODERATOR 

Dr. Suhail Abu Atta, MD 

Safe Motherhood Technical Advisor for Jordan’s Health Systems Strengthening Project/Abt 

Associates Inc. 


Role of Community Mobilization in Maternal-Newborn Care 

Dr. Ishtiaq Mannan, MBBS, MSc 

Chief of Party, MaMoni Project, Maternal and Child Integrated Health Program (MCHIP) 

We CAN Prevent Mortality from Eclampsia 



Anemia in Pregnancy, Why Such a Big Challenge 

Dr. Prakash V. Kotecha, MD, DPH, DIH, MBBS, MSc 

Senior Technical Advisor, A2Z Micronutrient and Child Blindness Project, India, Academy for 

Educational Development 

_________________________________________________________________________________ 

(NIC-C1) Key Program Elements and Innovative 

Approaches for Essential Newborn Care 


MODERATOR 

Dr. Dan Kraushaar, MPH, ScD 

Principal Associate, Health Systems, Management Sciences for Health 


Community Case Management for Neonatal Sepsis 

Dr. Penny Dawson, MD 

Child Survival Consultant, John Snow Inc., Research and Training Institute, Inc., Nepal 

Developments in Newborn Care 

Dr. Rajiv Bahl, MBBS, MD Pediatrics, PhD 

Medical Officer, Newborn Health Research and Development, WHO/Geneva 

Umbilical Stump Care Using Chlorhexidine: Evidence and Program Status 

Dr. James Tielsch, PhD


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 21 

Professor and Associate Chair for Academic Programs, Department of International Health, 

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 

(NIC-SL1) Neonatal Asphyxia/ Helping Babies Breathe 


PRESENTER 

Dr. Md. Abdul Mannan, MD 

Associate Professor, Department of Neonatology in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib 

Medical University 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(FP-C1) Contraceptive Technology and 

Private Sector Financing 


MODERATOR 

Dr. Rushna Ravji, MD, MPH, MS 

Technical Advisor, Office of Population & Reproductive Health, Bureau for Global Health, 

USAID 


New Contraceptive Technology 




Taking a New Look: Expanding Contraceptive Method Choice and Access through Improved 

Programming for Long-Acting/Permanent Methods (LA/PMs)/Global 

Ms. Lynn Bakamjian, MPH 

Director, RESPOND Project, EngenderHealth 

Reinvigorating the Postpartum Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices (PPIUCD) in India 

Dr. Rinku Srivastava 

Program Officer, Clinical Training, SIFPSA 

PSP Jordan Women’s Health: Enhanced Quality in Private Providers (EQIPP) and Access to 

FP/RH services 

Dr. Maha Shadid, MD 

Deputy Director, Private Sector Project (PSP) for Women’s Health, Jordan 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(FP-SL2) Postpartum and Interval IUCD Room: Myanmar 2 

MODERATOR 

Dr. Catharine McKaig, DrPH, MS 

Director, ACCESS Family Planning Program 

(FP-SL2.1) Postpartum IUCD – Insertion Technique Dramatically Improves Success 

PRESENTER 

Dr. Jeffrey Michael Smith, MD, MPH 

Regional Technical Director, Asia, JHPIEGO 

(FP-SL2.2) Interval IUCD Insertion and Removal – Mirena and Copper T 380 

PRESENTERS 

Dr. Zaib Dahar MBBS, Master’s in Sociology, and MPH Candidate 

District Program Director, Primary Health Care Project, Pakistan


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 22 

Dr. Nabeel Akram, MBBS, MBA, MSc Health Policy and Management 

Regional Team Leader Asia, Near East and Europe, JHPIEGO 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(CC-C1) Mobilizing Religious Leaders, Men, 

and Youth for Improved RH/FP/MCH Services and Information 

Room: Brunei 

MODERATOR 

Dr. Fabio Castano, MD, MPH 

Technical Director, Extending Service Delivery (ESD) Project 


Evidence-Based Advocacy and Scale-Up of Youth Reproductive Health Communication 

Intervention: the PRACHAR Model in Bihar, India 

Dr. E.E. Daniel, MD, DPH, MPH 

Senior Program Advisor and MIES, Pathfinder International 

Male Involvement in Family Planning and Reproductive Health (RH): Observations from Three 

Operations Research Studies 

Dr. M.E. Khan, PhD 

Senior Associate, Population Council, India 

An Approach to Involve Religious Leaders (RL) in Positively Changing People’s Health and 

Livelihoods 

Dr. Sheikh Yahya Ahmed Abdulrahman Al-Naggar 

President, Social Guidance Foundation, Yemen 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(CC-SL1) Modeling the Cost of Scaling-Up 

FP-MNCH Activities as Part of Integrated Service Packages 

Room: Malaysia 

PRESENTER 

Mr. David H. Collins, FCA, MA 

Director of Finance and Accounting, Management Sciences for Health 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 




17:30- 19:00 Free 

19:00-21:00 Dinner Cruise


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 23 

Tuesday, 9 March 2010 


9:00-11:00 NEONATAL, INFANT, AND CHILD PLENARY: Room: Ballroom 2,3 

(NIC-P1) Achieving MDG 4: Neonatal State of the Art Approaches 

MODERATOR 




Ensuring Newborn Survival: A Priority towards MDG-4 

Dr. Uzma Syed, MBBS, MPH, MSc 

Asia Regional Advisor, Saving Newborn Lives, Save the Children 

Smart Integration in Maternal and Newborn Care 

Dr. Steve Hodgins, MD, MSc, DrPH 

Global Leadership Team Leader, Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP) 

Scaling-Up of Interventions to Manage Birth Asphyxia in Bangladesh 

Dr. Mohammod Shahidullah, MD 

Professor and Chairman, Department of Neonatology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical 

University 

Joint Statement on Home Visits for Newborn Care 



Scaling-Up Newborn Care in India: the CARE Experience 

Dr. Mukesh Kumar, M.Phil. 

Nutrition and Health Program, CARE India 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 


11:30-13:00 NEONATAL, INFANT, AND CHILD PLENARY: Room: Ballroom 2, 3 

(NIC-P2) Child Health Big Picture: 

Scaling-up Essential Childhood Services 

MODERATOR 




Child Health—How Have We Been Doing; Where to Now 

Dr. Festo Kavishe, MD, MSc 

Deputy Regional Director, UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) 

Scaling-Up Diarrhea Treatment with Zinc and ORT through Public-Private Partnership in 

Different Asian Countries 

Mr. Camille Saadé 

Director, the POUZN Project, Academy for Educational Development 

Routine Immunization—What Does It Take to Maintain High Performance 

Mr. Robert Steinglass, MPH 

Immunization Team Leader, Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP)


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 24 

Nepal: Achieving High Coverage at Scale with Community-Based MNCH Services 

Dr. Yashovardhan Pradhan, MD, MPH 

Director General, Department of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 


14:00-15:00 CONCURRENT TECHNICAL SESSIONS C 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 

(MAT-C2) Unconventional Strategies 

to Improve Maternal Health 


MODERATOR 

Dr. Halida H. Akhter, MCPS (OB/Gyn), MPH, Dr. PH 

Global Technical Lead, Family Planning and Reproductive Health, Management Sciences for 

Health 


Financial Alternative – Gujarat Experience in Improving Maternal and Neonatal care 

Dr. Harshad Vaidya, MD 

Medical Director 

Midwifery Education and Accreditation System in Afghanistan 

Mrs. Pashtoon Azfar, RNM 

Director, Gazanfar Institute of Health Sciences; Midwifery and Nursing Specialist, JHPIEGO; 

President, Afghan Midwives Association 

Quality Improvement of Maternal Health Services: How Can Motivation and Performance 

Recognition Help 


Regional Team Leader Asia, Near East, and Europe, JHPIEGO 

Increasing Postpartum Check-Ups and Contraceptive Use Among Young Women in India: Creating 

Conditions for Scale-Up/India 



___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(MAT-SL2) Detection and Management of Postpartum 

Hemorrhage (PPH) with Blood Collection Mat 

and Non-pneumatic Anti Shock Garment (NASG) 


PRESENTER 

Dr. Shabnam Shahnaz, MD, MPH 

Country Representative, Bangladesh, Pathfinder International 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(NIC-C2) Child Health and Nutrition: 

Cost-Effective Approaches for Scaling-Up Life-Saving Interventions 


MODERATOR 


Senior Quality Improvement Advisor, MNCH, University Research Co.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 25 


Current Evidence on Newborn Vitamin A Supplementation 

Dr. James Tielsch, PhD 

Professor and Associate Chair for Academic Programs, Department of International Health, Johns 

Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 

Diarrhea—Why are Children Dying and What Can Be Done 



Infant and Young Child Feeding—Approaches to Getting Impact at Scale 

Dr. Tina G. Sanghvi, PhD, 

Country Director for Bangladesh, Alive & Thrive Initiative, Academy for Educational 

Development 

Facilitating Synergies to Scale-Up Maternal and Newborn Health in Nepal 

Mr. Jyoti Shrestha, MA, MPH 

Research Coordinator, Mothers and Infants Research Activities (MIRA), Nepal 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(NIC-SL2) Community-Based Sepsis Management 

Room: Malaysia 

PRESENTER 



___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(FP-C2) Creative and Integrated Approaches Room: Myanmar 2 

for Scaling-Up Family Planning Information and Services 

MODERATOR 

Ms. Carolyn Curtis, RN, CNM, MSN, FACNM 

Public Health Specialist/USAID Team Leader, Postabortion Care 


Mabrouk Initiative: An Innovative Approach to Reach Every Newlywed Couple for Family 

Planning through Ministry of Interior 

Ms. Rula M. Dajani, MPA 

Deputy Chief of Party, Jordan Health Communication Partnership 

Use of DHS Data to Influence Family Planning and Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health 

Programs and Policies: India National Family Health Survey 

Ms. Sheena Chhabra, MA 

Chief of the Health Systems Division, Office of Population, Health and Nutrition, USAID/India 

Scaling-Up a Family Planning Method: Experience with the Standard Days Method 

Dr. Victoria Jennings, PhD 

Director, Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University 

Revitalizing FP in Pakistan Using the HTSP Approach 

Mr. Ashfaq Rahman 

Chief of Party, USAID/FALAH (Family Advancement for Life and Health) Project 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

(FP-C3) Community-Based Access to Family Planning Services 


MODERATOR 

Ms. Victoria Graham, MBA 

Senior Technical Advisor, Office of Population and Reproductive Health, Bureau of Global Health, 

USAID


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 26 


Community Health Workers Provide DMPA 




Scaling-Up the Use of DMPA at Community Level in Afghanistan, 2002-2010 

Dr. Hedayetullah Mushfiq, MD 

Program Manager, Scaling-Up Family Planning, Tech-Serve Project, Management Sciences for 

Health, Afghanistan 

Improving Access to Family Planning Services in Rural Areas through CHWs in Nepal 

Ms. Bimala G.C., MA 

Performance Improvement Program Officer, Nepal Family Health Program II 

Mobile Health Teams as a Community-Based Outreach Solution to Improve Access to Care for 

Underserved Populations 



Planning Social Marketing 

Mr. Sitaram Devkota, USAID/Nepal 

___________________________________________________________________________________ 

Family Planning Integration with 

Room: Brunei 

Reproductive Health and HIV/ AIDS 



Ms. Caroline Francis, MA 

Associate Director, Prevention, Mitigation and Strategic Behavioral Communications, Family 

Health International, Cambodia 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 




17:30-21:30 Free


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 27 

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 


9:00-11:00 MATERNAL PLENARY: Room: Ballroom 2, 3 

(MAT-P2) Managing Obstetrical Complications: Two Major Killers 

MODERATOR 

Ms. Mary Ellen Stanton, CNM, MSN 

Senior Maternal Health Advisor, USAID 


PPH Prevention and Management at Health Facilities 



Using Misoprostol for Community-Level PPH Prevention: Scaling-up Maternal Health Best 

Practices in Bangladesh 

Dr. Nowrozy Kamar Jahan, MD, MSc, PhD 

Team Leader, Prevention of Postpartum Hemorrhage, Mayer Hashi (Smiling Mother) Project, 

EngenderHealth, Bangladesh 

Management of Pre-Eclampsia/Eclampsia 



Low Cost, Underutilized Technologies to Reduce Maternal Mortality in Jordan 

Dr. Sabry Hamza, MD, DrOb/Gyn 

Chief of Party, Health Systems Strengthening Project, Ministry of Health, Jordan 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 



(FP-P3) Family Planning/Reproductive Health Integration 

MODERATOR 




Postabortion Care: A Cost-Effective Best Practice for Reducing Unmet Need 



The Very Best Intentions: Family Planning in the First Year Postpartum 



FP/HIV Integration 




A Health Systems Approach to Integration of Family Planning: A Critical Look 

Dr. Halida H. Akhter, MCPS (OB/Gyn), MPH, Dr. PH


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 28 


Health 


14:00-15:00 Country Team Meetings 



15:30-17:30 Country Team Meetings 


____________________________________________________________________________________________ 

17:30-19:00 Free 

19:00-21:00 Farewell Dinner Room: Ballroom 2, 3


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 29 

Thursday, 11 March 2010 


9:00-11:00 CROSS-CUTTING PLENARY: Room: Ballroom 2, 3 

(CC-P1) Stronger Health Systems. Greater Health Impact. 

MODERATOR 




Improving the Cost-Effectiveness of Providing FP and MNCH Services as Part of the Basic 

Package of Health Services in Cambodia 

Mr. David Collins, FCA, MA 


Unpacking Health System Performance for MCH and FP 



Human Resources for Health: Steps for Successful and Sustainable Task Shifting 

Ms. Rebecca Kohler, MPH 

Vice President, Strategic Development and Communication, IntraHealth 

The Role of Health Systems and Development in Scaling-Up Effective MNCH and FP Interventions 

in Afghanistan, 2002-2010 

Dr. Mubarakshah Mubarak, MD 

Chief of Party, Technical Support to the Central and Provincial Ministry of Public Health (Tech- 

Serve) Project, Management Sciences for Health 

____________________________________________________________________________________________ 


11:30-13:00 Country Team Presentations Room: Ballroom 2, 3 

________________________________________________________________________________________________ 


________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

14:00-15:00 Closing Ceremony Room: Ballroom 2, 3 

________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

15:00-19:00 Social Activities 

19:00-21:30 Free/ Departure of Participants


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 30 

List of Sessions by Topic 

Please see the session descriptions for more information. 

Maternal Health 

(MAT-P1) Achieving Millennium Development Goal 5: 

State of the Art Approaches 

(MAT-P2) Managing Obstetrical Complications: Two 

Major Killers 

(MAT-C1) Community-Based Approaches to Prevention 

and Management of Maternal Complications 

(MAT-C2) Unconventional Strategies to Improve 

Maternal Health 

(MAT-SL1) Hands-On Session on Integrated Use of 

AMTSL and Immediate Newborn Care 

(MAT-SL2) Detection and Management of Postpartum 

Hemorrhage (PPH) with Blood Collection Mat and Nonpneumatic 

Anti Shock Garment (NASG) 

Family Planning/Healthy Timing and Spacing of 

Pregnancy (HTSP) 

(FP-P1) Family Planning: A Life-Saving Intervention for 

Women and Children 

(FP-P2) Family Planning Programmatic Issues 

(FP-P3) Family Planning/Reproductive Health Integration 

(FP-C1) New Contraceptive Technology: Are We 

Successful in Expanding Contraceptive Choice and Access 

to FP Services 

(FP-C2) Creative and Integrated Approaches for Scaling- 

Up Family Planning Information and Services 

(FP-C3) Community-Based Access to Family Planning 

Services 

(FP-SL1) Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM): A 

Critical Yet Underutilized Element of Maternal and Infant 

Health 

(FP-SL2.1) Postpartum IUCD—Insertion Technique 

Dramatically Improves Success 

(FP-SL2.2) Interval IUCD Insertion and Removal — 

Mirena and Copper T 380 

(FP-SL3) Contraceptive Café 

Newborn, Infant, and Child Health Sessions 

(NIC-P1) Achieving MDG 4: Neonatal State of the Art 

Approaches 

(NIC-P2) Child Health Big Picture: Scaling-up Essential 

Childhood Services 

(NIC-C1) Key Program Elements and Innovative 

Approaches for Essential Newborn Care 

(NIC-C2) Child Health and Nutrition: Cost-Effective 

Approaches for Scaling-Up Life-Saving Interventions 

(NIC-SL1) Neonatal Asphyxia/Helping Babies Breathe 

(NIC-SL2) Community-Based Sepsis Management 

Scaling-Up 

(SCL-P1) Scaling-Up Methodologies/Three Different 

Approaches for Different Settings 

(SCL-SB1) Scaling-Up: Improvement Collaboratives 

(SCL-SB2) Fostering Change for Scaling-Up Best 

Practices 

(SCL-SB3) Applying the Nine Steps Methodology for 

Developing a Scaling-Up Strategy 

Cross-Cutting 

(CC-P1) Stronger Health Systems. Greater Health Impact. 

(CC-C1) Mobilizing Religious Leaders, Men, and Youth 

for Improved RH/FP/MCH Services and Information 

(CC-C2) Improved Maternal Health: Effective Approaches 

Along the Continuum of Care 

(CC-SL1) Modeling the Cost of Scaling-Up FP-MNCH 

Activities as Part of Integrated Service Packages


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 31 

Technical Session Descriptions by Topic 

A Note About Technical Session Design 

Each of the technical sessions of this meeting, and indeed, the entire meeting itself, has been 

designed with a focus on active learning. To this end, every effort has been made to make the 

technical sessions as interactive as possible, and to encourage collaboration between panelists and 

attendees. Sessions will generally follow a similar format: once panelists have presented their 

findings, discussion with the larger group will be opened up. As examples and/or suggestions of 

how to plan and implement a specific best practices are offered, the panelists and moderator will 

augment and guide the conversation. Small group work and other interactive activities may also 

be included. 

The concentration on active learning is designed to increase the value of the technical sessions. 

The end goal is to clearly identify and illustrate promising and best practices. In the larger context 

of the meeting, attendees are encouraged to share what they have learned during their respective 

country team meetings each day. In addition to the concurrent technical sessions, the country 

meetings are an ideal venue to discuss practical applications, integration of new practices into 

current projects, and country-wide collaboration—all of which will assist in the development and 

implementation of viable scale-up plans.

Maternal Health Sessions 

MAT-P1 


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 32 

Achieving Millennium Development Goal 5: State of the Art Approaches 

MODERATOR 




Big Picture: Improving Service Delivery Strategies for Maternal Health in Asia 

Dr. Marge Koblinsky, PhD 

Senior Women’s Health Advisor, John Snow, Inc. 

Maximizing the Impact of Key Interventions in Preventing Maternal Mortality and Morbidity 



Reducing Maternal Mortality in Tamil Nadu – the NRHM Experience 

Ms. Girija Vaidyanathan, MSc, CFA, IAS 

Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission and Commissioner, Maternal and Child 

Health, Tamil Nadu, India 

Reducing Maternal and Neonatal Mortality in the Referral District Hospital through the Best 

Practices Implementation Package (Comprehensive Emergency Obstetrics and Neonatal 

Care) 

Dr. George Adriaansz, MD, DRM&B, MPH 

Chairman of National Clinical Training Network of Indonesia 

SESSION OBJECTIVES 

At the end of the session, participants will be able to: 

Describe how research data from Matlab, Bangladesh, illustrates specific elements 

that contribute to declining rates of maternal mortality. 

Describe innovative high-impact strategies that take skilled care closer to people to 

address major causes of maternal morbidity and mortality. 

Explain the major initiatives taken since 2007 to reduce maternal mortality in the 

state of Tamil Nadu, India. 

Describe the implementation of Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn 

Care using a performance and quality improvement approach to reduce maternal and 

newborn mortality in a district hospital in Indonesia. 

SESSION DESCRIPTION 

Innovative approaches deemed to be “state of the art” carried out in Bangladesh, India, and 

Indonesia, among other countries, will be presented in light of their contribution to improving 

maternal and newborn outcomes. These approaches comprise the use of quality of care 

strategies, including taking skilled care closer to people delivering at home and in peripheral 

healthcare facilities, establishing comprehensive emergency services, and the use of data to 

analyze why and in which settings these approaches lead to improvement.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 33 

MAT-P2 

Managing Obstetrical Complications: Two Major Killers 

MODERATOR 

Ms. Mary Ellen Stanton, CNM, MSN 

Senior Maternal Health Advisor, USAID 


PPH Prevention and Management at Health Facilities 



Using Misoprostol for Community-Level PPH Prevention: Scaling-up Maternal Health Best 

Practices in Bangladesh 

Dr. Nowrozy Kamar Jahan, MD, MSc, PhD 

Team Leader, Prevention of Postpartum Hemorrhage, Mayer Hashi (Smiling Mother) Project, 

EngenderHealth, Bangladesh 

Management of Pre-Eclampsia/Eclampsia 



Low Cost, Underutilized Technologies to Reduce Maternal Mortality in Jordan 

Dr. Sabry Hamza, MD, DrOb/Gyn 

Chief of Party, Health Systems Strengthening Project, Ministry of Health, Jordan 



List the major causes of maternal morbidity and mortality. 

Describe the approaches for prevention and management of PPH and Pre- 

Eclampsia/Eclampsia. 

Discuss the differences between facility-based and community- based approaches to 

prevention and management. 

Describe lessons learned in scaling-up Misoprostol for Community-level PPH in 

Bangladesh and Magnesium Sulphate for management of Pregnancy induced 

hypertension in Jordan. 


In most developing countries, the major causes of maternal morbidity and mortality are the 

same. In Asia, about 31% of maternal deaths are due to hemorrhage—with most of those 

being from postpartum hemorrhage—and about 9% of maternal deaths are due to the 

complications of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. In the last 10 years, the global maternal health 

community has begun to focus on specific interventions for specific causes of maternal death 

and how to improve the quality of those interventions. This has resulted in experience on 

prevention and management strategies targeted to the leading killers. This experience has 

been focused on the needs of women who deliver at facilities, as well as those in 

communities. This session will discuss two of the leading causes of obstetric death and what 

the best practices are for both prevention and management of these causes. In addition, it will 

describe two successful scaling-up interventions in Bangladesh and Jordan.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 34 

MAT-C1 

Community-Based Approaches to Prevention and Management of Maternal Complications 

MODERATOR 

Dr. Suhail Abu Atta, MD 

Safe Motherhood Technical Advisor for Jordan’s Health Systems Strengthening Project/Abt 

Associates Inc. 


Role of Community Mobilization in Maternal-Newborn Care 


Chief of Party, MaMoni Project, Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP) 

We CAN Prevent Mortality from Eclampsia 



Anemia in Pregnancy, Why Such a Big Challenge 

Dr. Prakash V. Kotecha, MD, DPH, DIH, MBBS, MSc 

Senior Technical Advisor, A2Z Micronutrient and Child Blindness Project, India, Academy 

for Educational Development 



Describe specific programmatic approaches that have been successful for 

community-based maternal and newborn care. 

List the prevention and management strategies that can be incorporated into 

community-based healthcare programs. 

Explain how programs can integrate successful approaches to engage communities in 

prevention and management. 


There are substantial efforts throughout the world to increase the proportion of women who 

deliver with a skilled attendant and in a healthcare facility. These efforts often prove more 

successful when communities are made partners in the process of enhancing maternal and 

newborn care. Certain elements of health education, counseling, and birth preparedness are 

successfully conducted within communities. In addition, there are selected preventative 

interventions that can be implemented with communities that can help prevent complications 

or identify them early. This session will review the experience in the AME region of reaching 

out to communities and working with them to implement health mobilization strategies and 

interventions to prevent selected complications.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 35 

MAT-C2 

Unconventional Strategies to Improve Maternal Health 

MODERATOR 



Health 


Financial Alternative – Gujarat Experience in Improving Maternal and Neonatal Care 

Dr. Harshad Vaidya, MD 

Medical Director 

Midwifery Education and Accreditation System in Afghanistan 

Mrs. Pashtoon Azfar, RNM 

Director, Gazanfar Institute of Health Sciences; Midwifery and Nursing Specialist, 

JHPIEGO; President, Afghan Midwives Association 

Quality Improvement of Maternal Health Services: How can motivation and performance 

recognition help 


Regional Team Leader Asia, Near East, and Europe, JHPIEGO 

Increasing Postpartum Check-ups and Contraceptive use among Young Women in India: 

Creating Conditions for Scale-up/India 





Describe how maternal and newborn health was improved through implementation of 

alternative finance schemes in Gujurat, India. 

Explain how the Afghan Ministry of Public Health’s approach to comprehensive 

workforce planning strengthened and expanded access to quality midwifery services. 

Describe how use of quality improvement approaches can contribute to improved 

maternal and newborn outcomes. 

Understand the approach used in Uttar Pradesh to increase postpartum care and 

contraceptive use. 


This session will highlight the lessons learned in implementation of best practices to achieve 

better outcomes for mothers and newborns. Presenters will discuss varied but complementary 

approaches, such as addressing economic barriers to care through public-private partnerships; 

formulating a sustainable strategy to improve use of skilled birth attendants who are culturally 

acceptable; carrying out regular assessments of the quality of maternal and newborn care, and 

increasing women’s knowledge about the importance of healthy timing and spacing of 

pregnancy.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 36 

MAT-SL1 

Hands-On Session on Integrated Use of AMTSL and Immediate Newborn Care 

PRESENTER 

Ms. Asmuyeni Muchtar, CM, Dra, MPH 

Technical Advisor for Midwifery Services, JHPIEGO, Indonesia 

SKILLS LABS OBJECTIVES 


Explain how active management of third stage of labor (AMTSL) prevents 

postpartum hemorrhage. 

Describe the steps used in AMTSL. 

Explain how to select the appropriate uterotonic for use with AMTSL. 

Describe the steps in immediate newborn care and their importance. 

Demonstrate AMTSL and immediate newborn care using anatomic models and skills 

checklists. 

SKILLS LAB DESCRIPTION 

This lab will demonstrate how to provide AMTSL according to global guidelines, while 

ensuring immediate newborn care. This will include problem-solving with providers during 

the following scenarios: 

The provider is alone and the infant needs resuscitation; 

The provider does not have access to injectable uterotonic drugs; 

The provider is alone and the woman has twins, and; 

The birth attendant is not skilled. 

Presenter will demonstrate: 1) AMTSL; 2) drying the baby, evaluating breathing, delayed cord 

clamping, skin-to-skin care; 3) care and examination of the woman after delivery of the 

placenta; and 4) monitoring the woman and newborn during the first two hours postpartum. 

As time permits, participants will perform return demonstrations.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 37 

MAT-SL2 

Detection and Management of Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH) with Blood Collection Mat and 

Non-pneumatic Anti Shock Garment (NASG) 

PRESENTER 

Dr. Shabnam Shahnaz, MD, MPH 

Country Representative, Bangladesh, Pathfinder International 

SKILLS LAB OBJECTIVES 

At the end of the skills lab, participants will be able to: 

Use a blood collection mat to estimate blood loss in PPH. 

Describe the application of the anti-shock garment in managing PPH. 


The use of a blood collection mat for the measurement of blood loss in postpartum women 

and the application of a non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG) to stabilize a woman in 

PPH-induced shock will be demonstrated. 

Technical personnel, service providers, program implementers and policy makers in 

reproductive health will benefit from the knowledge and experience shared in the 

contribution of these two very simple but effective technologies that help reduce maternal 

morbidity and mortality.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 38 

Newborn, Infant, and Child Health Sessions 

NIC-P1 

Achieving MDG 4: Neonatal State of the Art Approaches 

MODERATOR 




Ensuring Newborn Survival: A Priority towards MDG-4 

Dr. Uzma Syed, MBBS, MPH, MSc 

Asia Regional Advisor, Saving Newborn Lives, Save the Children 

Smart Integration in Maternal and Newborn Care 



Scaling-Up of Interventions to Manage Birth Asphyxia in Bangladesh 

Dr. Mohammod Shahidullah, MD 

Professor and Chairman, Department of Neonatology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical 

University 

Joint Statement on Home Visits for Newborn Care 



Scaling-Up Newborn Care in India: the CARE Experience 

Dr. Mukesh Kumar, M.Phil. 

Nutrition and Health Program, CARE India 



Explain the contribution of newborn health interventions to the reduction of MDG4. 

Describe opportunities for increasing the impact of such interventions through 

integrated MNH programming. 

State the key challenges associated with neonatal resuscitation programs and the 

potential contribution of the Helping Babies Breathe training. 

Explain the importance of early home visitation after delivery as a strategy to reduce 

neonatal mortality 

Describe the scale-up of newborn health interventions in selected states in India by 

CARE. 


Neonatal mortality is a major contributor to under-five mortality, and data shows that MDG4 

will not be achieved for most developing countries without a significant reduction in newborn 

deaths. Targeting evidence-based interventions to address the major causes of newborn 

deaths is crucial for reducing neonatal mortality. This session discusses the progress made to 

date on the implementation of specific newborn health interventions and its impact on


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 39 

neonatal mortality. Key delivery approaches, including integration of maternal and newborn 

health programs and early postnatal home visits, are also discussed. The program experience 

in scaling-up home-based newborn care in India by CARE will be presented. The session 

offers an opportunity for participants to understand and discuss the key issues that should be 

addressed to scale-up newborn health interventions.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 40 

NIC-P2 

Child Health Big Picture: Scaling-up Essential Childhood Services 

MODERATOR 




Child Health—How Have We Been Doing; Where to Now 

Dr. Festo Kavishe, MD, MSc 

Deputy Regional Director, UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) 

Scaling-Up Diarrhea Treatment with Zinc and ORT through Public-Private Partnership in 

Different Asian Countries 



Routine Immunization—What Does It Take to Maintain High Performance 

Mr. Robert Steinglass, MPH 

Immunization Team Leader, Maternal and Child Integrated Health Program (MCHIP) 

Nepal: Achieving High Coverage at Scale with Community-Based MNCH Services 

Dr. Yashovardhan Pradhan, MD, MPH 

Director General, Department of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal 



Describe progress to date and challenges in achieving MDG4. 

Enumerate effective approaches to partnerships with the private drug sector to get 

higher coverage on key public health interventions, notably use of zinc in the 

management of childhood diarrhea. 

Outline systems elements and program management principles that need to be taken 

into account to achieve good population coverage, using the example of 

immunization programs. 

Explain key factors that have contributed to effective large-scale implementation of 

primary health programs in Nepal. 


Many of the countries that have made the most progress on MDG4 are in the AME region. 

This accomplishment has not been achieved by accident, but through sound policy, 

progressive and creative technical approaches, and practical implementation methods. This 

session will cover the broad picture, and provide several program and country examples, 

illustrating what has worked and highlighting remaining challenges.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 41 

NIC-C1 

Key Program Elements and Innovative Approaches for Essential Newborn Care 

MODERATOR 




Community Case Management for Neonatal Sepsis 



Developments in Newborn Care 



Umbilical Stump Care Using Chlorhexidine: Evidence and Program Status 






Describe the key program elements and innovative approaches for establishing 

successful community case management of neonatal sepsis services. 

List the key elements of essential and immediate newborn care. 

Cite the evidence and delivery approaches for the application of Chlorhexidine on the 

umbilical stump of the newborn to prevent neonatal infection. 

Describe the scale-up of newborn health interventions in a country. 


This session will focus on the key interventions, including delivery approaches, for the 

prevention and treatment of neonatal infection, the leading cause of neonatal mortality in 

most developing countries. Preventive essential newborn care practices, such as early 

initiation of breastfeeding and clean cord care with the application of Chlorhexidine on the 

umbilical stump, have been shown to contribute significantly to the reduction of neonatal 

mortality. Research updates and new information will be provided on the feeding of LBW 

infants and the simplified treatment of neonatal sepsis. Additionally, recent research will be 

cited demonstrating that the identification and management of neonatal infection by 

community health workers is feasible and effective in reducing neonatal mortality.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 42 

NIC-C2 

Child Health and Nutrition: Cost-Effective Approaches for Scaling-Up Life-Saving 

Interventions 

MODERATOR 




Current Evidence on Newborn Vitamin A Supplementation 




Diarrhea—Why are Children Dying and What Can Be Done 



Infant and Young Child Feeding—Approaches to Getting Impact at Scale 

Dr. Tina G. Sanghvi, PhD, 

Country Director for Bangladesh, Alive & Thrive Initiative, Academy for Educational 

Development 

Facilitating Synergies to Scale-Up Maternal and Newborn Health in Nepal 

Mr. Jyoti Shrestha, MA, MPH 

Research Coordinator, Mothers and Infants Research Activities (MIRA), Nepal 



Describe benefits expected with, and alternative strategies for, neonatal vitamin A 

supplementation. 

Cite the latest effective approaches to diarrhea control. 

Articulate the key features of infant and young child feeding programs that enable 

them to overcome challenges and achieve impact at scale. 

State the lessons learned in MIRA’s program to bridge the gap in communication and 

knowledge sharing among high-impact programs engaged in maternal and neonatal 

health services in Nepal. 


Although significant progress has been made in reducing child mortality throughout several 

countries in the region, several problems of child health and well-being remain stubbornly 

resistant to our efforts. This session will sensitize participants to both new interventions and 

strategic approaches to perennial problems in child health and nutrition.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 43 

NIC-SL1 

Neonatal Asphyxia/Helping Babies Breathe 

PRESENTER 

Dr. Md. Abdul Mannan, MD 

Associate Professor, Department of Neonatology in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib 

Medical University 



Describe the contents of the Helping Babies Breathe training materials and associated 

training aids. 

List the key steps in basic neonatal resuscitation. 

Describe how the HBB training materials would be used to improve knowledge and 

skills on neonatal resuscitation of service providers. 

Practice neonatal resuscitation using the “neonatalie” resuscitation mannequin. 


This lab session will demonstrate how to identify an asphyxiated baby and the steps to 

achieve successful resuscitation using the Helping Babies Breathe training materials and 

associated aids developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Laerdal Company. 

Participants will provide input through an interactive discussion on the appropriateness of the 

HBB training materials, the dissemination strategy, and its potential use within country 

programs.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 44 

NIC-SL2 

Community-Based Sepsis Management 

PRESENTER 





With guidance, use an algorithm to assess and classify possible severe bacterial 

infections in young infants. 

Describe components of preparing for and conducting a training session for 

community-based health workers. 

Describe the elements in the design of a supportive supervision system to assist and 

reinforce skills and confidence in community-based health workers. 


This lab session will take participants through the training materials and associated job aids 

used to build the capacity of community-based workers to assess, identify and treat young 

infants with possible severe bacterial infections. Participants will learn to use simple clinical 

algorithm for classifying sick young infants. 

In addition, participants will learn what is needed to prepare for and conduct sepsis 

management training of community-based health workers, as well as tips and ideas for 

training follow-up and successful supportive supervision.

Family Planning Sessions 

FP-P1 


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 45 

Family Planning: A Life-Saving Intervention for Women and Children 

MODERATOR 

Ms. Milka Dinev, MBA 



Family Planning Saves Lives: Achieving the MDGs 

Dr. Malcolm Potts, MB, BChir, PhD, FRCOG 

Bixby Professor of Population and Family Planning, School of Public Health, University of 

California, Berkeley 

How Increased Contraceptive Use Has Contributed to Reduced Maternal Mortality 

Dr. Sarah Clark, PhD 

Vice President and Director, Health Policy Initiative, Center for Policy and Advocacy, 

Futures Group 

Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy (HTSP): Moving Research into Practice to Save 

Lives and Promote Healthy Behaviors 

Dr. Maureen Norton, PhD 

Senior Technical Advisor, Office of Population and Reproductive Health, Bureau for Global 

Health, USAID 

Guest panelists will discuss: PRACHAR project, India; HAI’s Child Spacing Initiative, East 

Timor 

Scaling-Up Best Practices in Postpartum Services in Yemen 

Dr. Jamila Al Raebi, MD 

Deputy Minister of Public Health and Population, Yemen 



Describe the estimated impact of family planning on maternal and under-five 

mortality and its role in achieving the MDGs. 

Define ‘Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy’ and describe how this approach 

is being applied in service delivery programs to promote healthy behaviors and 

improve use of family planning. 

Describe the process used to scale-up FP-MNCH best practices in Yemen. 


Family planning saves lives. In low-resource settings, family planning may be second only to 

vaccines in its potential to reduce deaths and improve health. This session provides a broad 

overview of the role of family planning in reducing maternal and under-five mortality as well 

as its role in helping countries to achieve the MDGs. The session includes a presentation on a 

2009 analysis of the role of family planning in reducing maternal deaths a discussion of 

HTSP, and how practitioners are applying research findings about HTSP behaviors in service


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 46 

delivery programs and a description of the process used by a Yemen country team to scale-up 

FP-MNCH best practices in postpartum services.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 47 

FP-P2 

Family Planning Programmatic Issues 

MODERATOR 


Senior Technical Advisor for Science and Technology, Office of Population and 

Reproductive Health, Bureau for Global Health, USAID 


Plateauing CPR/Tipping Point 

Dr. Gadde Narayana, PhD 

Country Director, India, Futures Group 

Elements of Success in Family Planning Programming and 2008 Medical Eligibility Updates 

Dr. Mario R. Festin, MD, MS, MPHEd 

Coordinator, Promoting Family Planning, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, 

World Health Organization, Geneva 

Pakistan’s Experience in Scaling-Up FP/MNCH Best Practices: Scaling-Up Process, 

Progress to Date, Plans for the Future, and Challenges 

Dr. Rashid Jooma 

Director General of Health, Government of Pakistan 

Scaling-Up of Healthy Fertility and Postpartum Family Planning Rural Experiences in 

Urban Areas of Sylhet, Bangladesh 

Mr. Kazi Moksedur Rahman, CA 

Deputy Executive Director and Project Director, Shimantik 



State the factors contributing to the plateauing CPR in countries under transition and 

efforts underway to improve the situation. 

Identify elements for successful family planning programming and updates in 

contraceptive technology, including new products in the pipeline. 

Describe two country models for scaling-up FP/MNCH best practices, a government 

led model in Pakistan, and an NGO model in Bangladesh. 


Family planning programs over the past five decades have made a substantial impact on the 

individual, family, and society. However, recent evidence indicates that fertility has stalled or 

slowed in a number of countries in transition. On the other hand, need for comprehensive FP 

services are quickly growing. To keep up with the demand, FP programs must be more 

efficient and effective. This plenary will review fertility change in the region and will 

highlight reasons for the plateauing CPR and the key elements for successful family planning 

programming to enable program managers and planners to strengthen programs efficiently. 

The latest evidence-based guidance on use of various contraceptive methods will be 

presented, as well as the Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (MEC) and 

Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use (SPR), two of the four 

cornerstones of the World Health Organization’s evidence-based family planning guidance 

for worldwide use. A presentation from Pakistan will highlight the renewed commitment of


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 48 

the Government of Pakistan to scaling-up high-impact FP/MNCH best practices by issuing 

the Karachi Declaration for nation-wide scale-up to achieve the MDGs. A presentation from 

Bangladesh will share a model/approach for scaling-up postpartum family planning in a lowresource, 

urban setting.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 49 

FP-P3 

Family Planning/Reproductive Health Integration 

MODERATOR 




Postabortion Care: A Cost-Effective Best Practice for Reducing Unmet Need 



The Very Best Intentions: Family Planning in the First Year Postpartum 



FP/HIV Integration 




A Health Systems Approach to Integration of Family Planning: A Critical Look 



Health 



Cite two barriers to postabortion family planning provision. 

Be aware of the joint statement on postabortion family planning endorsed by three 

international professional associations—FIGO, ICM and ICN. 

Identify at least three proven examples of FP/MNCH integration. 

Describe two key rationales for postpartum family planning. 

Identify at least two benefits of offering integrated services. 

Describe the six pillars for a strong health system. 


Long recognized as an essential strategy for family planning service delivery, integration has 

often been discussed in terms of “missed opportunities,” but only minimal literature exists on 

strategies for successful integration. This session will discuss the integration of family 

planning and reproductive health services. It will specifically focus on integration as a 

component of postabortion care, maternal and newborn care—including mother to child 

transmission of HIV—and within health systems in general. Speakers will discuss concrete 

approaches to family planning integration as well as lessons learned for potential scale-up.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 50 

FP-C1 

Contraceptive Technology and Private Sector Financing 

MODERATOR 

Dr. Rushna Ravji, MD, MPH, MS 

Technical Advisor, Office of Population & Reproductive Health, Bureau for Global Health, 

USAID/Washington 


New Contraceptive Technology 




Taking a New Look: Expanding Contraceptive Method Choice and Access through Improved 

Programming for Long-Acting/Permanent Methods (LA/PMs)/Global 

Ms. Lynn Bakamjian, MPH 

Director, RESPOND Project, EngenderHealth 

Reinvigorating the Postpartum Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices (PPIUCD) in India 

Dr. Rinku Srivastava 

Program Officer, Clinical Training, SIFPSA 

PSP Jordan Women’s Health: Enhanced Quality in Private Providers (EQIPP) and Access to 

FP/RH services 

Dr. Maha Shadid, MD 

Deputy Director, Private Sector Project (PSP) for Women’s Health, Jordan 



Explain why it is important to expand contraceptive options; cite specific examples 

of incremental improvements in existing contraceptive methods, and examples of 

totally new methods for immediate application. 

Describe private sector approaches and models for financing FP; recognize the PSP 

FP/RH (EQIPP) set of approaches for private doctors and pharmacists and voucher 

system in Jordan. 

Identify three promising approaches/best practices to improve access to quality 

LA/PMs and three rationales for improving access to LA/PMs as part of routine FP 

programming. 

Articulate the need for postpartum family planning in India and the strategic 

approach to national expansion of PPIUCD. 


The demand for FP is increasing and expected to grow to nearly one billion. The critical issue 

is to optimize use of current methods—making them safe, effective, and acceptable, while 

developing new and effective methods. This presentation will provide an educational and 

entertaining review of several new contraceptives and represent incremental improvements in 

existing technology, such as the new one-year combined progestin-estrogen vaginal ring, one-


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 51 

size-fits-most Silcs Diaphragm and women’s condom, low-cost Sino-Implant (II), and lower 

dose Depo-subQ Provera 104 in Uniject. 

The Long Acting and Permanent Methods (LA/PMs) presentation will focus on 

expanding method choice and access through improved programming for LA/PMs. The FP 

financing topic will describe PSP’s approach in Jordan for improving access to FP/RH 

services through the private sector’s Women Based Approach (WBA), which reaches 1.36 

million women. There is a need to broaden the financing base, mobilize funds from other 

sources—private, NGOs, and others. The country presentation will show how India is 

reinvigorating its postpartum IUCD (PPIUCD) program as the Ministry of Health and Family 

Welfare (MoHFW) is refocusing its attention on unmet need for postpartum family planning 

and repositioning FP as a health initiative.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 52 

FP-C2 

Creative and Integrated Approaches for Scaling-Up Family Planning Information and 

Services 

MODERATOR 




Mabrouk Initiative: An Innovative Approach to Reach Every Newlywed Couple for Family 

Planning through Ministry of Interior 

Ms. Rula M. Dajani, MPA 

Deputy Chief of Party, Jordan Health Communication Partnership 

Use of DHS Data to Influence Family Planning and Maternal, Neonatal and 

Child Health Programs and Policies: India National Family Health Survey 

Ms. Sheena Chhabra, MA 

Chief of the Health Systems Division, Office of Population, Health and Nutrition, 

USAID/India 

Scaling-up a Family Planning Method: Experience with the Standard Days Method 



Revitalizing FP in Pakistan Using the HTSP Approach 

Mr. Ashfaq Rahman 

Chief of Party, USAID/FALAH (Family Advancement for Life and Health) Project 



Discuss the importance of developing partnerships between traditional and nontraditional 

healthcare providers from different sectors to improve health outcomes. 

Cite one way in which DHS data has been used to inform national programs and 

shape national policy in India. 

Discuss the role of the ExpandNet approach in scaling-up a family planning method. 


This session includes creative and successful approaches for scaling-up FP information and 

services. The Jordan “Mabrouk 1 , you are a mom and dad now" initiative of the Jordanian 

National Family Planning/Reproductive Health Communication Strategy provides couples 

with credible FP/RH information at crucial life stages, utilizing un-conventional approaches 

new opportunities to reach new parents. Presenters will share lessons learned from this 

experience and demonstrate how this methodology can be replicated in other countries. 

India has been instrumental in using data from its DHS to estimate population-based HIV, 

bring attention to childhood malnutrition, revitalize an IUD program and create a conditional 

cash transfer program to encourage poor women to give birth in healthcare facilities. 

1 Arabic word meaning Congratulations


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 53 

The systems oriented ExpandNet strategic approach has been used to scale-up the Standard 

Days Method of FP into national and state level FP programs in five countries. Research 

methodology, data collection strategies, stakeholder involvement and adaptation of the SDM 

innovation will be considered. Examples from India, Guatemala and Rwanda will highlight 

advantages and lessons learned in the scale-up of a new FP method into different healthcare 

systems and contexts.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 54 

FP-C3 

Community-Based Access to Family Planning Services 

MODERATOR 

Ms. Victoria Graham, MBA 

Senior Technical Advisor, Office of Population and Reproductive Health, Bureau of Global 

Health, USAID 


Community Health Workers Provide DMPA 




Scaling-Up the Use of DMPA at Community Level in Afghanistan, 2002-2010 

Dr. Hedayetullah Mushfiq, MD 

Program Manager, Scaling-Up Family Planning, Tech-Serve Project, Management Sciences 

for Health, Afghanistan 

Improving Access to Family Planning Services in Rural Areas through CHWs in Nepal 

Ms. Bimala G.C., MA 

Performance Improvement Program Officer, Nepal Family Health Program II 

Mobile Health Teams as a Community-Based Outreach Solution to Improve Access to Care 

for Underserved Populations 



Family Planning Social Marketing 

Mr. Sitaram Devkota, USAID/Nepal 



Identify key models and success factors in designing and implementing innovative 

community-based FP models based on experience in three countries. 

Articulate the primary successes and challenges from country teams introducing and 

scaling-up community-based FP models. 

Discuss the process and conclusions of a recent WHO/USAID/FHI technical 

consultation on expanding access to injectable contraception as a strategy for task 

sharing at the community level. 


Rates of unmet need for family planning remain high in developing countries. One in seven 

married women in these countries has an unmet need for contraception. Donors, researchers, 

and service delivery groups have recognized that one of the most successful ways to extend 

family planning services to underserved and marginalized populations is through communitybased 

provision. This approach is particularly important in areas where a significant portion 

of the population does not have access to facilities or clinical providers and where health 

systems are already overburdened. This panel will highlight country experiences from three


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 55 

successful community models of FP provision: (1) by community health workers in 

Afghanistan; (2) by community health workers in Nepal; and (3) by mobile health teams in 

Yemen. In addition, a synopsis of the 2009 WHO/USAID/FHI Technical Consultation on 

Expanding Access to Injectable Contraception will summarize the evidence and conclusions 

of this important meeting with implications for task sharing at the community level.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 56 

FP-SL1 

Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM): A Critical Yet Underutilized Element of Maternal 

and Infant Health 

PRESENTER 

Ms. Priya Jha, MSW 

Country Representative, India, Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University 



Define what is meant by LAM and state the three criteria that make LAM effective. 

Describe how to incorporate LAM and exclusive breastfeeding messages in maternal 

and infant health counseling or programs, or both. 

Articulate the importance of emphasizing timely transition from LAM to another 

family planning method during the postpartum period. 


This session will demonstrate how LAM can be integrated in maternal and infant health 

programs by targeting program managers and providers who counsel women and/or couples 

of reproductive age. Participants will examine the synergy between exclusive breastfeeding 

and LAM, the definition of LAM and the three criteria for effective use, and the timely 

transition from LAM to another family planning method when any of the three criteria 

change. Participants will identify specific pre-natal, delivery, and postpartum programs where 

LAM integration can support exclusive breastfeeding and emphasize the timely transition to 

other methods.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 57 

FP-SL2.1 

Postpartum IUCD—Insertion Technique Dramatically Improves Success 

MODERATOR 



PRESENTER 





Understand the important elements of the PPIUCD insertion technique. 

List several criteria that decrease the risk of spontaneous expulsion. 

Describe several service delivery and training elements in PPIUCD programs. 


Postpartum family planning services—and especially postpartum IUCD insertion—are a key 

approach to integrating maternal health and family planning services. This session on the 

PPIUCD insertion technique will describe recent changes in WHO Medical Eligibility 

Criteria, instruments for insertion, and an approach to a PPIUCD insertion technique that can 

decrease spontaneous expulsion and increase program success. Program managers, technical 

advisors and RH/MNH clinicians will learn about training and service delivery approaches 

that should be employed.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 58 

FP-SL2.2 

Interval IUCD Insertion and Removal —Mirena and Copper T 380 

MODERATOR 



PRESENTERS 

Dr. Zaib Dahar MBBS, Master’s in Sociology, and MPH Candidate 

District Program Director, Primary Health Care Project, Pakistan 


Regional Team Leader Asia, Near East and Europe, JHPIEGO 



Discuss the important elements of interval IUCD insertion. 

Identify key elements of counseling. 

Explain key differences between Mirena and Copper T 380. 


This session will review key components of IUD insertion and removal services, including 

counseling, ‘no-touch loading and insertion techniques,’ and the removal process. The 

approach will be participatory through interactive discussion and demonstration using 

simulation on pelvic models. A discussion of the Mirena IUD will also be included.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 59 

FP-SL3 

Contraceptive Café 

PRESENTER 






Identify all of the methods of contraception that USAID provides through its Central 

Commodity Program. 

Identify at least three new methods of contraception that should be available in the 

next several years. 

Describe some of the benefits of current and new contraceptive technology. 


The full range of contraceptive methods currently available through USAID or other donors 

will be displayed along with a range of new methods, not yet available, that have either 

completed clinical trials or are currently in Phase III trials. Attendees will have an 

opportunity to have their questions answered on all currently available methods and the new 

methods demonstrated, such as how they are provided and used, the mechanism of action, 

and advantages and disadvantages.

Scaling-Up Sessions 

SCL-P1 


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 60 

Scaling-Up Methodologies/Three Different Approaches for Different Settings 

MODERATOR 

Dr. Salwa Bitar, MD, MPH 

FP/MNCH Regional Advisor, Asia and Middle East, Extending Service Delivery (ESD) 

Project 


Nine Steps for Scaling-Up 


Professor Emerita, The University of Michigan, School of Public Health; President, Partners 

in Expanding Health Quality and Access 

Mobilizing Teams for Change: the Power of Improvement Collaboratives 



Fostering Change to Scale-Up FP/MNCH Best Practices 


Principal Program Associate, Management Sciences for Health 

The Improvement Collaborative Approach and How It Helped Yemen’s Scaling-Up Efforts 





Recognize common principles of scaling-up. 

Distinguish among the three approaches for supporting successful scaling-up 

presented in this plenary. 

Describe how one of these approaches, the Improvement Collaborative, was 

successfully applied in Yemen. 


The successful scale-up of health interventions requires that committed individuals and 

organizations design and carry out systematic approaches for expansion that are tailored to 

the realities of country settings. This plenary begins with general principles/lessons about 

scale-up followed by presentations of three approaches to supporting scale-up and one 

country example. The first approach, the Improvement Collaborative (IC), has been applied 

in different settings to accelerate the spread of successful interventions. The rationale and 

steps associated with IC will be provided along with country examples of and practical 

recommendations for its application. The second presentation, the Fostering Change 

methodology, will lay out how this approach provides a clear pathway that links proven 

change practices with evidence-based clinical and programmatic practices. The third, Nine 

Steps for Developing a Scaling-up Strategy, is a tool to facilitate strategic planning for scaleup. 

The presentation will describe the nine-step process, highlight ways it can be used, and


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 61 

provide examples of in-country application. The Yemen case study will provide the 

experience of applying the IC approach to accelerate the spread of implementation of eight 

best practices in postpartum care. It will discuss the methodology’s appeal and crucial factors 

for its success.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 62 

SCL-SB1 

Scaling-Up: Improvement Collaboratives 

PRESENTER 



SKILLS BUILDING WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES 


Describe the role of improvement collaborative in scaling-up MNCH interventions. 

Practice, through an example, selected steps in implementing an improvement 

collaborative in MNCH programs. 

SKILLS BUILDING WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION 

This skills building session targets healthcare workers at different levels (referral, primary 

care, community, health management) who are interested in scaling-up effective MNCH 

interventions in their settings. The activity will demonstrate to participants through an 

example how improvement collaboratives (IC) can be used to scale-up MNCH interventions. 

It will review examples of how IC has been used to scale-up MNCH programs and will 

expose participants, through a practical example to the steps of applying IC in the field of 

MNCH. Finally, the session will conclude with a discussion to elaborate the advantages of IC 

in spreading best practices.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 63 

SCL-SB2 

Fostering Change for Scaling-Up Best Practices 

PRESENTERS 


Principal Program Associate, Management Sciences for Health 

Ms. Kristen Stelljes 

Senior Program Officer, Management Sciences for Health 



Recognize how a successful change process contributes to introducing and scaling-up 

proven healthcare policies and practices. 

Become familiar with a pathway that leads to desired results by linking proven 

change practices with evidence-based clinical and program practices. 

Become familiar with the principles, phases and steps from A Guide for Fostering 

Change to Scale-Up Effective Health Services. 


The development community has had the knowledge, technology, and experience to make 

substantial improvements in health. However, many proven practices are not taken to scale. 

Workshop participants will learn how using evidence-based practices for effective change can 

significantly increase the chances for success and sustainability as they introduce, adapt, 

apply, and scale-up clinical practices. A country experience of scaling-up a best practice will 

be presented and a case study approach will be used to demonstrate how to implement the 

systematic fostering change process presented in the IBP A Guide for Fostering Change to 

Scale-Up Effective Health Services.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 64 

SCL-SB3 

Applying the Nine Steps Methodology for Developing a Scaling-Up Strategy 

PRESENTERS 


Professor Emerita, The University of Michigan, School of Public Health 

President, Partners in Expanding Health Quality and Access 

Laura Ghiron, MPH 

Member, ExpandNet Secretariat 

Vice President, Partners in Expanding Health Quality and Access 



Develop a scaling-up strategy using the nine steps methodology and scaling-up tools 

developed by ExpandNet/WHO. 

Articulate key principles and lessons of scaling-up and share these with others. 


Scaling-up of health interventions requires strategic planning and management. This skills lab 

is intended for program managers, researchers and other health professionals who seek to 

ensure that successfully tested health interventions are expanded and benefit more people on 

a lasting basis. Participants will practice the nine-step methodology for developing a scalingup 

strategy, which was introduced during the plenary session. They will become familiar with 

the ExpandNet/WHO tools for scaling-up and acquire skills in diagnosing scaling-up 

challenges as well as planning and managing a systematic approach to the spread of best 

practices.

Cross-Cutting Sessions 

CC-P1 


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 65 

Stronger Health Systems. Greater Health Impact. 

MODERATOR 




Improving the Cost-Effectiveness of Providing FP and MNCH Services as Part of the Basic 

Package of Health Services in Cambodia 

Mr. David Collins, FCA, MA 


Unpacking Health System Performance for MCH and FP 



Human Resources for Health: Steps for Successful and Sustainable Task Shifting 

Ms. Rebecca Kohler, MPH 

Vice President, Strategic Development and Communication, IntraHealth 

The Role of Health Systems and Development in Scaling-Up Effective MNCH and FP 

Interventions in Afghanistan, 2002-2010 

Dr. Mubarakshah Mubarak, MD 

Chief of Party, Technical Support to the Central and Provincial Ministry of Public Health 

(Tech-Serve) Project, Management Sciences for Health 



Identify successful costing methods for freeing up resources and shifting services to the 

community level. 

Cite evidence for achieving health system strengthening through the use of a causal 

model for improving performance. 

Identify evidence-based factors that improve the effectiveness of task shifting models 

that result in improved quality and access to services. 

Describe how innovative, evidence-based interventions influenced national policy, 

which allows Afghanistan to use community health workers to provide basic MNCH 

services. 


This presentation will demonstrate the power of linking health systems strengthening to 

greater health outcomes. A cost modeling study of the basic package of services in rural 

Cambodia indicates that utilization of key services, such as MNCH, can be increased through 

the use of provider incentives, while the unit cost of those services can be reduced. The study 

delineates organizational changes that can save further costs. An empirically testable causal 

model illustrates the link between health system strengthening using policy and program 

levers to shape health system performance. The need for task shifting to be implemented in a


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 66 

broader health system framework is illustrated by case studies from Bangladesh, India and 

Mozambique. Meanwhile, Afghanistan achieved a major reduction in under-five mortality, 

accompanied by an increase of the availability and use of primary healthcare services in less 

than eight years through specific health system strengthening strategies and the use of 

community health workers to provide many key services.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 67 

CC-C1 

Mobilizing Religious Leaders, Men, and Youth for Improved RH/FP/MCH Services and 

Information 

MODERATOR 

Dr. Fabio Castano, MD, MPH 

Technical Director, Extending Service Delivery (ESD) Project 


Evidence-Based Advocacy and Scale-Up of Youth Reproductive Health Communication 

Intervention: the PRACHAR Model in Bihar, India 

Dr. E.E. Daniel, MD, DPH, MPH 

Senior Program Advisor and MIES, Pathfinder International 

Male Involvement in Family Planning and Reproductive Health (RH): Observations from 

Three Operations Research Studies 



An Approach to Involve Religious Leaders (RL) in Positively Changing People’s Health and 

Livelihoods 

Sheikh Yahya Ahmed Abdulrahman Al-Naggar 

President, Social Guidance Foundation, Yemen 



Recognize the urgent need for attention to programs that address the RH needs of 

youth, and engage men and religious leaders to improve women’s health. 

Describe models, approaches, studies, and share results and lessons learned that can 

inform programming for RH/FP/MCH while advocating for human rights, gender 

equality, and change in social norms. 

Explain how properly designed evidence-based interventions can support behavioral 

change and improve the RH of youth and increase male involvement in maternity care 

and contraception. 


The purpose of the session is to provide approaches and models that have or have not worked 

for reaching out to groups other than women to help improve the RH of women and increase 

their access to services. There is a broad range of areas where engaging religious leaders, 

youth, and men is making a difference for women and their families, including RH/FP, 

gender-based violence, advocacy and public policy change, reduction of stigma, prevention, 

and care of HIV/AIDS. Participants will learn lessons and recommendations for engaging the 

aforementioned groups. Presentations will emphasize how these approaches and experiences 

promote gender equity and help transform social norms.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 68 

CC-C2 

Improved Maternal Health: Effective Approaches Along the Continuum of Care 

MODERATOR 

Ms. Lisa Bowen, MPH 

Program Advisor, White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood 


Increasing Institutional Deliveries through Skilled Birth Attendants: Successful Strategies 

and Lessons Learned from Deoghar District in Jharkhand, India 

Dr. Manju Shukla, MD 

State Director, Jharkhand, Vistaar Project, IntraHealth International, Inc. 

Addressing Maternal Health in Cambodia through Vouchers 

Dr. Heng Chanlida, MD 

Community Health Specialist, Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia (RHAC) 

Dr. Chan Ketsana, MD 

Maternal and Child Health/Nutrition Team Leader, Reproductive and Child Health Alliance 

(RACHA) 

Improved Delivery of MNCHN Services through Strengthening of Village Health and 

Nutrition Days (VHNDs): Key Strategies and Lessons Learned from Uttar Pradesh, India 

Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh, MSW 

Senior Technical Advisor, Vistaar Project, IntraHealth International, Inc. 



Describe how quality of services provided by skilled birth attendants (SBAs) can be 

improved by supportive supervision, motivation and recognition systems. 

Discuss the successful strategies and lessons learned in increasing institutional 

deliveries through technical assistance (TA) to the India government SBA program 

and use of vouchers in Cambodia. 

Explain key strategies and lessons learned to improve MNCHN services through 

scaling-up and strengthening VHNDs. 


Maternal health can be influenced by various factors from issues of equitable access to 

services to the training of healthcare professionals and volunteers. Efforts to improve 

maternal health require approaches that are effective, cross-cutting and address the needs 

along the continuum of care. This session explores three programs in India and Cambodia 

and their ways of addressing maternal mortality and health through increased demand on 

facility delivery, improved life-saving interventions by SBAs, and outreach to the 

community through VHNDs. The presenters examine the implementation and enhancement 

of the SBA program and its effects on increased institutional deliveries and improved quality 

if appropriate supervision and motivation systems are utilized. Furthermore, participants will 

learn how the use of vouchers can increase the number of pregnant women who receive a 

package of services that includes prenatal visits, delivery at the center, and one postnatal 

visit. Finally, the session discusses the expansion and improved quality of VHNDs as an 

important platform for improving access to MNCHN services for the rural population.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 69


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 70 

CC-SL1 

Modeling the Cost of Scaling-Up FP/MNCH Activities as Part of Integrated Service Packages 

PRESENTER 

Mr. David H. Collins, FCA, MA 




Describe methods for modeling the cost of FP/MNCH services. 

Explain the relationship between targets and costs. 

Select which model to use under difference circumstances. 


FP/MNCH services are generally provided as part of integrated service packages, and the cost 

and quality of these services depend, to a significant degree, on the cost efficiency in 

providing the overall service package. To estimate the costs of scaling-up these services, e.g., 

at the health center level, requires the modeling of the whole package of services broken out 

by type of service, and also requires the use of need norms (incidence/prevalence rates) and 

standard costs. This session, which is aimed at managers involved in planning, budgeting and 

analyzing costs, will explain the use of cost modeling for scaling-up services as part of 

integrated service packages, an important skill that enables them to advocate successfully for 

additional funds and plan the use of funds effectively and efficiently.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 71 

Active Learning Sessions 

We are pleased to offer a variety of Active Learning sessions to participants at the Technical Meeting. 

Many of these sessions are informal and will provide different types of learning opportunities to allow 

participants to learn by doing. 

Poster Session Discussions 

Opportunities to visit the poster sessions exist throughout the meeting, and during Saturday’s evening 

session, participants who brought the posters will be available for discussion and exchange. 

Poster discussions will be held Saturday March 6, 2010 (17:00-18:00) during the opening reception 

in the Ballroom Foyer. You can visit the poster area at any time and review the lessons learned from 

the different country teams 

Skills Lab Sessions 

The Skills Lab sessions are an opportunity for participants to observe procedures and learn new skills. 

It is also an opportunity to discuss critical issues in-depth, to clarify information and to share in 

smaller group settings. While most of these laboratories address clinical skills, there is no requirement 

of being a clinician to attend the skills labs. The intent is to familiarize participants with hands-on skill 

building approaches to learning. 

Skills lab sessions will be offered in the afternoons of the first three days of the meeting. 

Skills Building Workshops 

Skills building workshops will use small group discussions and presentations to provide an in-depth 

understanding of the different scaling-up methodologies. In addition, RH/FP costing tools will be 

discussed in one of those workshops. Skills building workshops feature software, tools and promising 

methods that help promote best practices in FP/MNCH. They are not your typical classroom! 

Presenters use volunteers, hands-on tools, and encourage lively discussion! More detailed information 

about the Skills building workshops can be found in your program guide under each session. 

Skill building workshops will be offered Sunday afternoon. 

USAID Global Health e-Learning Courses 

The Global Health e-Learning Courses are internet-based courses that provide current technical 

information to global health professionals developed in response to the desire of professionals to 

remain current on global health topics, but who find it a challenge to obtain the information because of 

logistical and time constraints. These courses provide useful and timely continuing education for 

health professionals; offer state-of-the-art technical content on key public health topics, and serve as a 

practical resource for increasing public health knowledge. 

Global Health e-Learning Courses will be offered every day in the Peppino technology room. We urge 

all participants to take advantage of these hands-on learning sessions during their extra time. 

Individual prizes for participants who finish the most courses during the meeting will be provided. 

Similarly, prizes will be given to the three country teams that achieve the most e-Learning courses 

during the meeting.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 72 

Country Team Information 

Please see the “At a Glance Schedule” for information on dates and times of country 

team meetings. The location of the country team presentations will be announced on 

Wednesday, 10 March. 

Country Team Breakout Room Facilitator(s) 

Afghanistan Philippines Room Kristen Stelljes 

Bangladesh 

Malaysia Room 

Rushna Ravji 

Halida Akhter 

Cambodia Vietnam Room Carolyn Curtis 

East Timor Myanmar 1 Room Jennifer Mason 

India 

Indonesia 

Jordan 

Myanmar 2 Room 

The Study 

Brunei 1 Room 

Monique Mosolf 

Sharon Arscott Mills 

Lisa Bowen 

Victoria Jennings 

Pat Daly 

Laura J. Ghiron 

Fabio Castano 

Salwa Bitar 

Nepal Singapore Room Steve Hodgins 

Pakistan 

Indonesia Room 

Maureen Norton 

Lourdes de la Peza 

Nabeel Akram 

Philippines Philippines 1 Room Nandita Thatte 

Thailand Philippines 2 Room Salwa Bitar 

Vietnam Myanmar 3 Room Pauline Muhuhu 

West Bank/Gaza - Palestine Cambodia Room Deidre Russo 

Yemen 

The Garden Gallery 

Milka Dinev 

Youssef Tawfik


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 73 

Presenter Biographies 

Dr. George Adriaansz, MD, DRM&B, MPH, Chairman, National Clinical Training Network of 

Indonesia 

Dr. Adriaansz has over 25 years of experience in development, implementation, monitoring and 

evaluation of health programs. In 1995, he joined the National Clinical Training Network as a 

Training Program Advisor. He also worked as a Maternal and Neonatal Health Advisor for Ministry 

of Health’s Making Pregnancy Safer Campaign, AVSC International-Postabortion Care, Jhpiego’s 

Maternal and Neonatal Health Program WHO-Integrated Emergency Maternal and Neonatal Care and 

Post-disaster Health Service Reconstruction and Recovery, and the JSI-Health Service Program. He 

became the Chairman of NCTN/JNPK in August 2009 and participated in the coordination of clinical 

activities related to maternal and neonatal health programs in five Southeast Asian countries. Dr. 

Adriaansz earned a Medical degree with a specialization in OB/GYN from the top Indonesian medical 

university and at the school of reproductive medicine at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. He 

earned an MPH from Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

Dr. Halida H. Akhter, MCPS(OB/Gyn), MPH, Dr. PH, Global Technical Lead, Family Planning 

and Reproductive Health, Management Sciences for Health 

Dr. Akhter is a reproductive health epidemiologist with over 20 years of national and international 

work experience in reproductive health issues. Prior to joining Management Sciences Health, where 

she currently acts as the Global Technical Lead for Family Planning and Reproductive Health, Dr. 

Akhter was the founder and director of the leading reproductive health research institute of 

Bangladesh, served as Director General of the largest reproductive health NGO of Bangladesh and 

created a grassroots level organization that trains women to become community maternity 

practitioners in rural Bangladesh. Dr. Akhter has made significant contributions through scientific 

research as well as her leadership roles in reproductive health institutions. She has served on the 

boards of leading global health organizations and her work has been recognized by numerous 

international forums. Dr. Akhter earned her MCPS-OB/GYN from the College of Physicians and 

Surgeons in Dhaka, Bangladesh and received her MPH and Doctorate in Public Health from Johns 

Hopkins University. 

Dr. Nabeel Akram, MBBS, MBA, MSc Health Policy and Management, Regional Team Leader 

Asia, Near East and Europe, JHPIEGO 

Dr. Akram is a medical doctor with graduate degrees in both health policy and management and 

business administration. He has 14 years of experience in the development, implementation, 

monitoring and evaluation of health programs, designing and implementing quality improvement 

approaches, family planning training and private sector social marketing programs. Currently, Dr. 

Akram is the Regional Team Leader, ANE region, for JHPIEGO, based in Baltimore, USA. 

Previously, he served for five years as JHPIEGO’s Country Representative and Technical Advisor in 

Pakistan and has also been associated with Community Health Sciences Department at Aga Khan 

University. 

Dr. Kiran Ambwani, MD, DCH, Deputy Commissioner, Family Planning, Ministry of Health 

and Family Welfare, Government of India 

Dr. Ambwani has over 35 years of health systems experience working at the government level. Prior 

to taking over as Deputy Commissioner, Family Planning, for India’s Ministry of Health and Family 

Welfare in 2008, she served as Superintendent of Central Government Hospital in Delhi where she 

was involved in strengthening a teenage counseling center. She is a strong advocate for strengthening 

postpartum family planning services in the country. Dr Ambwani earned a DCH and a Medical degree 

in anesthesia.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 74 

Dr. Suhail Abu Atta, MD, Safe Motherhood Technical Advisor for Jordan’s Health Systems 

Strengthening Project/Abt Associates Inc. 

Dr. Atta is a Gynecology/Obstetrics clinical specialist who served more than 20 years as a 

clinician and a Master trainer at the Jordan Ministry of Health. Dr. Atta joined the Jordan Health 

Systems Strengthening Project three years ago as the technical advisor for the safe motherhood 

initiative implemented at Ministry of Health and Royal Medical Services Hospitals 

Mrs. Pashtoon Azfar, RNM, Director, Gazanfar Institute of Health Sciences; Midwifery and 

Nursing Specialist, JHPIEGO; President, Afghan Midwives Association 

A nurse midwife with more than 29 years of experience, Mrs. Azfar spent her career working with 

government hospitals and NGOs in Afghanistan and Pakistan to improve and enhance clinical care. 

The majority of her professional work has focused on the development of capacity building strategies 

to increase access to skilled birth attendants and essential obstetric services. Mrs. Afzar has provided 

technical assistance both to midwifery education programs to ensure performance and quality 

improvements in midwifery education and to clinical service training for health service providers and 

midwifery education faculty and clinical instructors. She has presided over the first Afghan Midwives 

Association as President since its inception in 2005 and currently serves as both the Director of the 

Gazanfar Institute of Health Sciences and a Midwifery and Nursing Specialist with 

JHPIEGO/Afghanistan. 

Dr. Rajiv Bahl, MBBS, MD Pediatrics, PhD, Medical Officer, Newborn Health Research and 

Development, WHO/Geneva 

Dr. Bahl has been the focal point for Research and Development on Newborn Health in the 

Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development for the World Health Organization, 

Geneva since 2003. He has over 15 years of experience in designing, conducting, coordinating and 

managing research on the evaluation of newborn and child health interventions and approaches to 

deliver them. Dr. Bahl has coordinated the development of guidelines and training materials on 

newborn care for first level health workers and community health workers, including the young infant 

IMCI and caring for the newborn at home. Dr. Bahl earned his Medical degree and specialization in 

pediatrics from the University of Delhi and his PhD from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, 

New Delhi. 

Ms. Lynn Bakamjian, MPH, Director, RESPOND Project, EngenderHealth 

Ms. Bakamjian has provided programmatic leadership at EngenderHealth for over 30 years, serving in 

many roles, including Senior Vice President for Programs. Currently, she directs the USAID project 

Responding to the Need for Family Planning through Expanded Contraceptive Choices and Program 

Services, a global project with a mandate to provide technical leadership and assistance to advance 

knowledge, capacity and support for family planning programs so that they can better address unmet 

need and improve access to a wide range of effective contraceptive methods. Ms. Bakamjian has 

expertise in designing and leading programs, expanding long-acting and permanent and contraception 

services, introducing new contraceptive technologies, and improving the quality of reproductive health 

services. She has a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University and has worked in more than 

25 countries worldwide. 

Ms. Bimala G.C., MA, Performance Improvement Program Officer, Nepal Family Health 

Program II 

Ms. Bimala is a Performance Improvement Program Officer in Nepal Family Health Program II. She 

is responsible for working with NFHP central teams and field teams to assist government counterparts 

in the quality and performance improvement of FP/MNCH service delivery by planning, 

implementing, and monitoring. In addition, Ms. Bimala works with national partners to ensure 

development and implementation of quality-related initiatives pertaining to FP/MNCH. She provides 

support to national level intervention in quality improvement in health system and medical waste


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 75 

management. Ms. Bimala has 16 years of experience in reproductive health, gender-based violence, 

and adolescent reproductive health. 

Dr. Salwa Bitar, MD, MPH, FP/MNCH Regional Advisor, Asia and Middle East, Extending 

Service Delivery (ESD) Project 

Dr. Bitar is the Extending Service Delivery (ESD) Project’s FP/MNCH Regional Advisor for Asia and 

the Middle East. She specializes in scaling-up best practices in the region, and has played a lead role 

in organizing this technical meeting, as well as its predecessor meeting in 2007. Following the 2007 

meeting, she provided focused technical assistance and monitoring and evaluation for several AME 

countries in their efforts to scale-up best practices. She is a medical doctor and a public health 

specialist with over 20 years of experience in management, design and implementation of population 

and family health programs. Prior to working for ESD, she spent 17 years managing family planning 

and reproductive health, healthcare reform, women’s health, behavior change and safe motherhood 

initiatives for USAID/Jordan. Earlier, Dr. Bitar was a medical provider of FP/RH services for 

Jordanian women who come from low socio-economic class. She then joined Save the Children, 

where she designed and implemented a child survival program in Jordan. Dr. Bitar obtained her 

medical degree from Jordan University in 1978 and her MPH from Jordan University for Science and 

Technology in 1997. 

Ms. Lisa Bowen, MPH, Program Advisor, White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood 

Ms. Bowen serves as a Program Advisor for the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (WRA) 

Global Secretariat. She provides technical assistance aimed at strengthening the capacity of WRA 

National Alliances to plan and implement activities that will have a positive impact on maternal 

survival. Ms. Bowen is a reproductive health expert with 12 years of experience in behavior change 

and outreach strategies for global reproductive health. She has experience living and working in 

various countries including Guatemala, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Senegal, Guinea and 

Nepal, and she is a fluent Spanish speaker. Ms. Bowen serves as a member of the Board of Directors 

of the Child Survival Collaboration and Resources Group, and she holds an MPH from the University 

of North Carolina. 

Dr. Fabio Castano, MD, MPH, Technical Director, Extending Service Delivery (ESD) Project 

Dr. Castano is the Technical Director of the ESD Project. He has over 20 years of experience 

designing, implementing and evaluating complex global programs and training in more than 20 

countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. He has an MD from the Colombian 

School of Medicine, holds a Master’s in Public Health from UCLA, and has training in management, 

quality and performance improvement, and systems development. In his current position, he provides 

leadership in establishing both the strategic vision and technical direction of the ESD Project and its 

implementation in several countries. Dr. Castano has worked for a variety of international 

organizations (UNFPA, UNESCO, IOM), Ministries of Health (Latin America and the Caribbean), 

cooperating agencies (EngenderHealth, Planned Parenthood), and PVOs/NGOs providing technical 

assistance to improve and expand reproductive health programs and to develop models of integrated 

services. He has extensive experience on youth and male involvement programs, has been an adviser 

of UNESCO's youth regional networks, and is a member of Men Engage. In his native country of 

Colombia, he served as a health advisor to the President’s Office, participated in the design and 

implementation of the health sector reform, and supported policy development. 

Ms. Sheena Chhabra, MA, Chief of the Health Systems Division, Office of Population, Health 

and Nutrition, USAID/India 

Ms. Chhabra is the Chief of the Health Systems Division, of the Office of Population, Health and 

Nutrition at USAID/India. The focus of her work includes capacity building of institutions; improving 

effectiveness of behavior change communication; demand-side financing and partnership approaches, 

and; improved data generation and data-based decision making in the health sector. Prior to joining 

USAID in 1995, she worked as a Senior Project Director at the Social and Rural Research Institute, a


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 76 

well-established specialist social research unit of India's premier market research organization, Indian 

Market Research Bureau. She was a Lecturer of Resource Management at Lady Irwin College, 

University of Delhi and served as a Project Coordinator for the UNICEF-funded Sanitation Project. 

Ms. Chhabra has a Master’s degree in Community Resource Management and Extension from Delhi 

University. 

Dr. Heng Chanlida, MD, Community Health Specialist, Reproductive Health Association of 

Cambodia (RHAC) 

Dr. Chanlida currently serves as a community health specialist for the Reproductive Health 

Association of Cambodia (RHAC) and has over 20 years of experience working as a clinician in the 

Cambodian government health system. She joined RHAC, a local NGO supported by USAID, in 

1999. Since then, she has worked on a range of interventions that address maternal and reproductive 

health. In her role as a community health specialist, she has brought together the skills of her team and 

government staff at all health centers addressing community maternal health issues. She is particularly 

acclaimed for leading the implementation of a voucher system for pregnant women in Cambodia. 

Dr. Sarah Clark, PhD, Vice President and Director, Health Policy Initiative, Center for Policy 

and Advocacy, Futures Group 

Dr. Clark currently serves as Vice President and Director, Health Policy Initiative, Center for Policy 

and Advocacy at the Futures Group. She joined Futures in September 2007. She formerly served as a 

consultant to foundations and UN agencies and for nine years worked as the Director of the 

Population Program at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in Los Altos, California. Prior to 

joining the Packard Foundation, she served for over two decades as a Foreign Service Officer with 

USAID. Her career was equally divided between Washington jobs, including that of the Deputy 

Executive Secretary from 1996 to 1998 and Deputy of the Office of Population and Reproductive 

Health in the Global Health Bureau. Dr. Clark has a PhD from Brown University in Sociology with a 

specialization in Demography. She speaks fluent French and is studying Spanish. 

Mr. David H. Collins, FCA, MA, Director of Finance and Accounting, Management Sciences for 

Health 

Mr. Collins is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of experience in international health and 

development projects. He is the Director of Finance and Accounting with Management Sciences for 

Health, responsible for corporate financial management. He also provides technical assistance in the areas 

of health finance, including costing and performance-based financing. He has been a long-term health 

finance advisor to the Ministries of Health in Kenya and South Africa, has developed several cost 

modeling tools, and has conducted many studies of health service costs, most recently in Cambodia and 

Liberia. 

Ms. Carolyn Curtis, RN, CNM, MSN, FACNM, Public Health Specialist/USAID Team Leader, 

Postabortion Care 

Ms. Curtis has over 30 years of experience in maternal child health, family planning, youth, FP/HIV 

integration and women’s reproductive health. During this time she has worked as a nurse, midwife, 

administrator, and educator, serving on the faculty of numerous schools of nursing where she trained 

medical, nursing and midwifery students. In 2001, Ms. Curtis joined USAID as the Team Leader for 

Postabortion Care and a Program Manager for family planning programs. She has overseen the 

implementation of family planning and postabortion care programs in 23 countries. Ms. Curtis 

completed her nurse midwifery education at Georgetown University, her Master’s degree in Maternal 

Child Health nursing at Catholic University and earned a post-Master’s certificate in advanced 

education at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Dr. Zaib Dahar, MBBS, Master’s in Sociology & MPH Candidate, District Program Director, 

Primary Health Care Project, Pakistan


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 77 

Dr. Dahar is a medical doctor with a Master’s degree in Sociology and is currently pursuing her MPH. 

She has 12 years of experience conducting trainings, developing, and managing projects for 

reproductive health, family planning and primary healthcare, as well as implementing quality 

improvement approaches for service delivery in public and private sector. Dr. Dahar is now working 

as District Program Director in a primary healthcare project run by the Consortium, funded by 

USAID, and based at Bagh Azad Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan. 

Ms. Rula M. Dajani, MPA, Deputy Chief of Party, Jordan Health Communication Partnership 

Ms. Dajani, the Deputy Chief of Party for the Jordan Health Communication Partnership, has over 18 

years of experience in mass communication, political analysis, program development and fundraising, 

and an advanced degree in Public Administration from George Mason University. Ms. Dajani has 

managed and provided technical assistance for the development, monitoring, and evaluation of 

USAID and European Union country programs in Palestine, Egypt and Jordan. She has designed 

partnerships with the public and private sector and explored new business and areas of operation 

across the Middle East region. In February 2009, Ms. Dajani joined the Jordan Health Communication 

Partnership, a USAID-funded project implemented by Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School 

of Public Health to oversee, manage, and provide technical assistance for the development, 

implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of country programs. 

Dr. E.E. Daniel, MD, DPH, MPH, Senior Program Advisor and MIES, Pathfinder International 

Dr. Daniel has over 30 years of experience in teaching, training, and managing of public health 

programs. In January 2002, he joined Pathfinder International as Project Director for the PRACHAR 

Project in Bihar, India. He became the Evaluation Advisor in July 2004 and Senior Program Advisor 

and MIES in July 2009. He coordinated the research studies for evaluation of PRACHAR Phase I and 

II. Dr. Daniel earned post-graduate degree in community medicine from Mumbai University and 

Master’s in Public Health from the Hebrew University, Israel. 

Dr. Penny Dawson, MD, Child Survival Consultant, John Snow Inc., Research and Training 

Institute, Inc., Nepal 

Dr. Dawson is a Canadian physician who has spent the past 28 years working in the Indian 

subcontinent (over 26 years in Nepal) working in various fields of public health, from “hands-on” 

clinical practice in a remote, rural hospital in the Himalayas, to assisting the Ministry of Health at the 

central level in planning and implementing child health programs on a national scale. Most recently, 

she is consulting for John Snow Inc. on various projects related to community-based child health 

initiatives, particularly the expansion and strengthening of CB-pneumonia and neonatal health 

programs. She is a principal investigator and advisor to the Morang Innovative Neonatal Intervention 

(MINI) project in Nepal. MINI works with the Ministry of Health and Population’s most peripheral 

community-based health workers to improve prompt recognition and appropriate management of 

neonatal infections and has recently supported a small feasibility trial for the use of gentamicin in the 

Uniject device. 

Ms. Lourdes de la Peza, Principal Program Associate, Management Sciences for Health 

Ms. de la Peza is an Organizational Development Specialist in the areas of leadership development, 

management skills, organizational development, and quality improvement. She is a skilled 

communicator, facilitator, consultant, trainer, virtual facilitator and executive coach. She has worked 

with both governmental and private sector organizations, health and non-health, in the Latin American 

and Caribbean region, Nigeria and virtual programs and in many countries in Africa and the Asia and 

the Middle East region. Ms. de la Peza has been with Management Sciences for Health since 1995, 

and has served as a Senior Program Officer with FPMD and now Principal Program Associate in the 

Leadership, Management and Sustainability Program. She has pursued graduate studies in Innovation 

on Education, Organizational Development, Total Quality Management, and Executive Coaching. 

Ms. Milka Dinev, MBA, Project Director, Extending Service Delivery (ESD) Project


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 78 

Ms. Dinev has 28 years of experience in the management of development projects, including 

administration, accounting and finance. As Pathfinder International’s Country Representative for Peru 

and Ecuador, Ms. Dinev was responsible for providing overall strategic direction to Pathfinder’s 

diverse family planning and sexual and reproductive health programs in Peru and Ecuador directly. 

She is currently serving as Director of ESD, a Pathfinder International Global Reproductive 

Health/Family Planning Project based in Washington D.C., providing leadership to project key 

initiatives in HTSP, CSR, Involvement of Religious Leaders, Best Practices and PAC and to activities 

in the following countries: Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Yemen. She 

speaks and writes fluent Spanish, English, French and Bulgarian. Ms. Dinev is a Fisheries Engineer 

and holds an MBA with honors mention in Finance and Development Programs Management, a 

Diploma on Gender and several diplomas on Development Project Management. 

Dr. Mario R. Festin, MD, MS, MPHEd., Coordinator, Promoting Family Planning, Department 

of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva 

Dr. Mario Festin is the Coordinator for Promoting Family Planning (PFP) at the Department of 

Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters in Geneva, 

Switzerland. He is an obstetrician-gynecologist and clinical epidemiologist, having served also as a 

professor at the University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine, and Deputy Director of the 

Philippine General Hospital. He also serves as Executive Director of the National Institutes of Health 

Philippines, and as Vice Chancellor for Research in UP Manila. As PFP Coordinator at WHO, he 

ensures the regular availability of updated evidence-based guidance and recommendations on family 

planning methods. 

Ms. Caroline Francis, MA, Associate Director, Prevention, Mitigation and Strategic Behavioral 

Communications, Family Health International, Cambodia 

Ms. Francis provides technical leadership, direction, and oversight to FHI’s prevention, mitigation and 

communications portfolios, with an annual operating budget of 4.65 million USD. Ms. Francis has 

proven technical leadership in designing, managing, monitoring and evaluating sexual health and HIV 

and AIDS initiatives, particularly for young people and most-at-risk populations. Her expertise 

focuses on strategic behavioral communications, HIV prevention programming, monitoring and 

evaluation, and qualitative research methods, particularly participatory techniques, and gender-based 

approaches. Ms. Francis is a social scientist with over 10 years of experience in HIV and AIDS 

prevention, care and treatment program management, strategic planning and coordination. She has 

lived and worked in Southeast Asia since 1995 and was recently awarded the Monisaraphon Thnak 

Tebpadent Medal by the Royal Government of Cambodia that recognizes outstanding achievement in 

the fields of education, literature, sciences, fine arts or social work. She holds a Master of Arts in 

Medical Anthropology from the University of Victoria in Canada. 

Ms. Laura Ghiron, MPH, Member, ExpandNet Secretariat; Vice President, Partners in 

Expanding Health Quality and Access 

Ms. Ghiron is Vice President of Partners in Expanding Health Quality and Access, a small U.S.-based 

non-profit organization. She recently completed 12 years of service to the University Of Michigan 

School Of Public Health (UM-SPH), the last five as Senior Research Area Specialist. Since receiving 

her MPH from the UM-SPH, Ms. Ghiron has collaborated with the World Health Organization and 

colleagues in Latin America on the implementation of the Strategic Approach to Strengthening 

Reproductive Health Policies and Programs and the subsequent Reprolatina Project. She worked with 

Chinese colleagues on the Quality of Care Project from 1997 TO 2007. Ms. Ghiron is a founding 

member of ExpandNet and is a member of its Secretariat. Together with ExpandNet Secretariat 

colleagues, Ms. Ghiron has organized a number of meetings on scaling-up and edited a book of 

scaling-up case studies and two scaling-up guides. She also maintains the ExpandNet website at 

www.expandnet.net.


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Dr. Sabry Hamza, MD, DrOb/Gyn, Chief of Party, Health Systems Strengthening Project, 

Ministry of Health, Jordan 

Dr. Hamza is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology with 20 years of obstetric experience and 13 

years of experience as a reproductive health/safe motherhood advisor to development projects and 

organizations. Currently, he works on the Health System Strengthening Project in Jordan as Chief of 

Party where he assists the Ministry of Health in Jordan with designing and implementing a sustainable 

program to improve safe motherhood, reproductive health and family planning services throughout the 

Kingdom. Dr. Hamza has devoted a significant amount of time and effort to reducing maternal 

mortality and has many publications and scientific research papers on maternal and child health, 

especially the use of low-cost technologies to reduce maternal mortality in addition to family planning 

and reproductive health service delivery. Dr. Hamza holds a Medical Doctorate degree from Ain 

Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. 

Dr. Hamouda B. Hanafi, MPH, DrPH, Director, Basic Health Services Project, Pathfinder 

International, Yemen 

Dr. Hanafi is the Director of the Basic Health Services Project in Yemen funded by USAID and 

implemented by Pathfinder International under the Extending Service Delivery Project. Dr. Hanafi is a 

Behavior Change Communications specialist and trainer and has a long experience managing and 

assisting reproductive health and family planning programs in Africa and the Arab region. His most 

recent achievements include developing several successful integrated interventions in Yemen over the 

last six years to improve access to healthcare for women. Dr. Hanafi has an MPH and a DrPH from 

the University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health. 

Dr. Steve Hodgins, MD, MSc, DrPH, Global Leadership Team Leader, Maternal and Child 

Health Integrated Program (MCHIP) 

Dr. Hodgins is a public health practitioner with diverse experience. In October 2009, he moved from 

Nepal, where he headed the Nepal Family Health Program, to Washington D.C., where he is 

Technical Director in USAID’s MCHIP project. His interests include public health program 

development, performance improvement, building capacity of public health practitioners, and applied 

research. He did his medical training and graduate work in epidemiology at McGill University in 

Montreal and completed a DrPH in Health Behavior at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 

Dr. Nowrozy Kamar Jahan, MD, MSc, PhD, Team Leader, Prevention of Postpartum 

Hemorrhage, Mayer Hashi (Smiling Mother) Project, EngenderHealth, Bangladesh 

Dr. Jahan is currently the Team Leader of the Prevention of Postpartum Hemorrhage Team of the 

USAID-funded Mayer Hashi (Smiling Mother) Project at EngenderHealth, Bangladesh. She has 15 

years of working experience as a program manager in the field of RH/FP, including eight years with 

USAID-funded family planning and reproductive health programs. She is a physician and has 

completed her Master’s in Population Science and Reproductive Health and PhD in Demography from 

Mahidol University, Thailand. Dr. Jahan is an expert in prevention of postpartum hemorrhage, 

postabortion care, and clinical methods of family planning. 

Dr. Victoria Jennings, PhD, Director, Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University 

Dr. Jennings, an anthropologist, has over 25 years of experience in developing, testing, and scaling-up 

reproductive health innovations, including fertility awareness-based methods. She is the Director of 

the Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH) and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at 

Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Dr. Jennings’ areas of expertise include policy, gender, 

training, and research. As Director of IRH, she has led the Institute’s research-to-practice agenda for 

the last two decades. Her PhD in medical anthropology is from the University of Texas at Austin, and 

she has post-doctoral training in family planning/reproductive health, sponsored by the Rockefeller 

Foundation, from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio. 

Ms. Priya Jha, MSW, Country Representative, India, Institute for Reproductive Health,


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 80 

Georgetown University 

Ms. Jha has over 14 years of experience in the design and management of health programs, 

specifically in the area of reproductive health and family planning. Since June 2006, she has been 

associated with the Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH), Georgetown University as the Country 

Representative for the India program. As the Representative of IRH in India, she is responsible for 

providing technical assistance and oversight to research and service delivery activities related to the 

introduction of fertility-awareness based methods in public and private sector programs in India, as 

well as management of the Institute’s activities in India. Ms. Jha has a degree in sociology and a 

Master’s in Social Work from the University of Delhi, India. 

Dr. M.E. Khan, PhD, Senior Associate, Population Council, India 

Dr. Khan has over 30 years of public health research experience aimed at improving service delivery 

in MCH, FP, HIV/AIDS, and safe motherhood. He has worked with the Population Council since 

1990, based in both the India and Bangladesh offices. Currently, he is the Chief of Party for a sixpartner 

research consortium performing a “landscaping” assessment of maternal health issues in Uttar 

Pradesh, India, with funding from the Gates Foundation. He has supported the development of policies 

and tools, trained managers and researchers, and scaled-up interventions in Bangladesh, Egypt, India, 

Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. He has served as Chairperson of the World Health 

Organization Committee on Gender-Sensitive Interventions and currently is Chairperson of the Sexual 

Violence Research Initiative. He holds a PhD in Sociology and other degrees in statistics and 

mathematics and has authored over 100 books, chapters, and peer-reviewed journal articles. 

Dr. Marge Koblinsky, PhD, Senior Women’s Health Advisor, John Snow Inc. 

Dr. Koblinsky has over 20 years of experience in development, implementation, and evaluation of 

maternal health programs and research into such issues as the consequences of maternal morbidity. 

She has served in many positions of leadership in maternal health and other public health issues, 

including director of the USAID-funded MotherCare Project and NGO Networks for Health, the 

IMMPACT project at the University of Aberdeen and, most recently, as Division Director of Public 

Health Sciences of the ICDDRB in Bangladesh. In 2008, she rejoined John Snow Inc. to become the 

Senior Women’s Health Advisor. Her interest in understanding programmatic initiatives to improve 

the status of maternal health has resulted in multiple publications and books. Dr. Koblinsky earned her 

Doctoral degree in Biochemistry from Columbia University in New York City. 

Ms. Rebecca Kohler, MPH, Vice President, Strategic Development and Communications, 

IntraHealth 

Ms. Kohler has more than two decades of experience in global health and development, with specific 

expertise in program design, resource development, strategic planning, program management, health 

communication and training. Ms. Kohler joined IntraHealth in 1998 to manage the organizations’ 

West African programs. In 2002, she opened IntraHealth’s project office in Armenia and successfully 

led several comprehensive maternal and child health programs there. She returned to headquarters in 

2006 to lead a new program development unit responsible for strategic programmatic and financial 

growth of the organization. She became the Vice President of Strategic Development and 

Communications in February of 2008. Ms. Kohler received her Master’s degree in Public Health from 

the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and her undergraduate degree from Duke University. 

Dr. Prakash V. Kotecha, MD, DPH, DIH, MBBS, MSc, Senior Technical Advisor, A2Z 

Micronutrient and Child Blindness Project, India, Academy for Educational Development 

Professor Kotecha presently works with the Academy of Educational Development’s A2Z, the USAID 

Micronutrient Project, as Senior Technical Advisor. Prior to joining this project, he worked as 

Professor and Head of the Department of Community Medicine at Medical College Vadodara for over 

10 years. He is an epidemiologist with expertise in public health nutrition and research methodology. 

He worked extensively on adolescent anemia with UNICEF for Gujarat-India. Professor Kotecha 

holds a postgraduate degree in community medicine and a diploma in public health from M.S.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 81 

University of Baroda, India and a Master’s in Community Health from London School of Hygiene and 

Tropical Medicine, London University, UK. 

Dr. Dan Kraushaar, MPH, ScD, Principal Associate, Health Systems, Management Sciences for 

Health 

Dr. Kraushaar has worked on or directed country projects in immunizations, micronutrient 

deficiencies, maternal, newborn and child health, family planning, health financing and health sector 

reform. Having worked for 13 years in ministries of health in four countries in Africa and Asia, he is 

very familiar with government health systems. He has worked in numerous organizations, including: 

the Peace Corps/Ethiopia, Helen Keller in Indonesia, as a Chief of Party for USAID projects in 

Swaziland and Kenya, as the Director of BASICS, and more recently as the Interim Director and 

Deputy Director in the Integrated Health Solutions Development division of the Bill and Melinda 

Gates Foundation. Dr. Kraushaar is currently overseeing two Management Sciences for Health 

initiatives in health system strengthening and results-based financing, and supporting country projects 

in the same content areas, primarily focused on improving maternal, newborn and child health 

outcomes. He has an MPH and Doctor of Science degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene 

and Public Health. 

Dr. Mukesh Kumar, M.Phil., Nutrition and Health Program, CARE India 

A qualified professional in developmental planning and development, and a Senior Management 

Team member with CARE, Dr. Kumar has considerable hands-on experience from 15 years of 

working on developmental issues, especially maternal and neonatal health and nutrition. He has 

experience in managing large-scale health and development programs in India and has worked at the 

block, district, state and national levels. He brings functional expertise in the areas of nutrition, 

maternal and child health and has a sound understanding of global experiences in programming for 

achieving impacts at scale. After more than 11 years working directly in collaboration with the 

government sector, especially Ministry of Women and Child Development, Dr. Kumar currently 

works as the Senior Program Director of Nutrition and Health Program with CARE in New Delhi, 

India. Dr. Kumar earned a postgraduate degree in sociology from the Delhi School of Economics and 

an M.Phil. degree in Planning and Development from the Indian Institute of Technology. 

Dr. Ishtiaq Mannan, MBBS, MSc,, Chief of Party, MaMoni Project, Maternal and Child 

Integrated Health Program (MCHIP) 

Dr. Mannan is currently the Chief of Party for Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program’s 

(MCHIP’s) MaMoni project, a USAID-funded, integrated safe motherhood, newborn care and family 

planning project in Bangladesh. This project evolved from the landmark community-based trial 

Projahnmo, for which Dr. Mannan led the monitoring and evaluation activities and co-authored 

several articles published in peer-reviewed journals. He now leads a team that is scaling-up lessons 

learned from several research studies through a model focusing on community mobilization and 

strengthening of public healthcare systems. His efforts are not limited only to the ongoing project 

implementation in low- performing districts of Bangladesh, but also encompass formulation of the 

National Neonatal Health Strategies and its Action. Dr. Mannan has managed reproductive health 

leadership building projects in several countries in Asia and Africa, has an MBBS, an MSc in Health 

Systems Management, and a PG Diploma in Health Economics. He is an NIH Fogarty Post-Doctoral 

Fellow at the Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University. 

Dr. Md. Abdul Mannan, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Neonatology in 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University 

Dr. Mannan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neonatology in Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujib Medical University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has worked for community-oriented newborn 

and maternal care in collaboration with the government, NGOs, and development partners in 

Bangladesh and is one of the co-investigators of Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) initiative, a project 

founded by USAID. Additionally, Dr. Mannan has published twenty articles and is a contributor to the


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 82 

teaching and training manuals on essential newborn care prepared in Bangladesh. Dr. Mannan became 

a medical graduate in 1988 and obtained his post-graduate FCPS in pediatrics in 1999. He received his 

MD in pediatrics in 2003 and his MD in neonatology in 2005. 

Dr. Matthews Mathai, MD, Department of Making Pregnancy Safer, World Health 

Organization 

Dr. Mathai currently works in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Department of Making 

Pregnancy Safer, in its Geneva headquarters, and has contributed to the development of many WHO 

guidelines, including Integrated Management of Pregnancy and Childbirth and those on the prevention 

and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage. Previously, he served as the Professor of Obstetrics and 

Gynecology at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India until 2005, and established and directed 

the Regional Training and Research Centre in Reproductive Health at the Fiji School of Medicine 

from 1996 to 1997. He has worked in many countries in Asia and the Pacific, training health workers 

in reproductive health, particularly in maternal and perinatal care. 

Dr. Catharine McKaig, DrPH, MS, Director, ACCESS Family Planning Program 

Dr. McKaig is currently the director of the ACCESS Family Planning program, a USAID-supported 

effort aimed at meeting the family planning needs of postpartum women. She has over 20 years of 

experience in international public health in the areas of reproductive health/family planning and child 

survival. She has a doctoral degree in maternal and child health from the University of North Carolina, 

Chapel Hill. 

Dr. Mubarakshah Mubarak, MD, Chief of Party, Technical Support to the Central and 

Provincial Ministry of Public Health (Tech-Serve) Project, Management Sciences for Health 

Dr. Mubarak has been the Chief of Party for Management Sciences for Health’s Technical Support to 

the Central and Provincial Ministry of Public Health (Tech-Serve) Project since 2006. Tech-Serve 

works with the Ministry of Public Health to build its capacity to guide the health system by 

establishing national health objectives that address national health priorities, while ensuring equity and 

fostering sustainability. Dr. Mubarak’s previous positions include Program Manager of the USAIDfunded 

Rural Expansion of Afghanistan’s Community-Based Health Project and Deputy Team Leader 

of Health Reform, Financing and Management for the Afghanistan Health Services Enhancement 

Program. Dr. Mubarak received his Medical degree at Kabul University and has over 20 years of 

experience working in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

Dr. Hedayetullah Mushfiq, MD, Program Manager, Scaling-Up Family Planning, Management 

Sciences for Health 

Dr. Mushfiq has over 15 years of experience in developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating 

primary healthcare programs, with particular emphasis on training and field implementation. After 

working for several NGOs, including International Medical Corps, he joined Management Sciences 

for Health (MSH) as the program manager for scaling-up family planning in 2008. In his role with 

MSH, he focuses on improving access and quality of family planning services delivered by 

community health workers in 13 USAID-supported provinces through integrated community-based 

approaches. He has also helped to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Public Health’s 

Community-Based Health Care (CBHC) Department to enhance its stewardship role, strengthen 

CBHC systems, and lead CBHC programs at country level. Dr. Mushfiq earned a Medical degree 

from the Islamic University of Afghanistan in 1994. 

Dr. Rema Nanda, PhD, Country Representative, Pathfinder International, India 

Dr. Nanda joined Pathfinder International in 2009 as Country Representative for India. Pathfinder’s 

current program in India includes projects in family planning, reproductive health, maternal health, 

safe abortion and HIV/AIDS, which focus on the most underserved populations, such as adolescents 

and female and male sex workers. Dr. Nanda has extensive experience in development, specializing in 

women’s and child’s rights in education, health and livelihoods and expertise in strategy development,


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 83 

building private-public partnerships, resource mobilization and performance accountability. Prior to 

joining Pathfinder, she was the Senior Advisor and Director of Public Health at the American India 

Foundation, where she was responsible for fundraising, advocacy and grant-making to promote and 

protect women’s health, child survival and HIV prevention. Dr. Nanda has also held technical and 

managerial posts with various UN agencies, including UNFPA, UNIFEM, and UNDP. She holds a 

Doctorate in International Education and is conversant in multiple Indian dialects. 

Dr. Gadde Narayana, PhD, Country Director, India, Futures Group 

Dr. Narayana, the India Country Director for the Futures Group, has over 30 years of experience in 

population policy development, policy analysis, program planning, and evaluation of reproductive 

health programs. In October 1995, he joined the POLICY Project as Country Director in India. In 

2005, he became the Chief of Party for the IFPS Technical Assistance Project that promoted publicprivate 

partnerships in the reproductive health sector in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and 

Jharkhand. 

Dr. Maureen Norton, PhD, Senior Technical Advisor, Office of Population and Reproductive 


Dr. Norton is Senior Technical Advisor for the Office of Population and Reproductive Health, for 

USAID’s Bureau for Global Health. She has over 20 years of experience in the design, 

implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of family planning and health programs. In 1996, she 

joined the Office of Population and Reproductive Health for USAID/Washington’s Bureau for Global 

Health. Since 2005, she has been the Agreement Officer’s Technical Representative for the Extending 

Service Delivery project. She is also the Bureau for Global Health’s Country Coordinator for Pakistan, 

the Co-Team Leader for the Bureau’s Health Systems Strengthening Service Delivery Working 

Group, and the technical lead for the Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy activities. Dr. Norton 

earned a Master’s degree in International Public Policy and a PhD in Middle East Studies with a 

concentration on International Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced 

International Studies in Washington, D.C. 

Dr. Malcolm Potts, MB, BChir, PhD, FRCOG, Bixby Professor, University of California, 

Berkeley 

Dr. Potts directs the Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability in the University of 

California, Berkeley. A British-trained obstetrician, he became the first Medical Director of the 

International Planned Parenthood Federation in 1969, where he conceptualized the community-based 

distribution of contraception. In 1978, he was appointed President and CEO of Family Health 

International (FHI). He led FHI to pioneer studies of maternal mortality, and made the organization an 

early leader in AIDS work. Dr. Potts has written 13 books and over 250 scientific articles. At UC 

Berkeley, he continues research on task shifting, safe motherhood, and violence and warfare. He was a 

founding board member of Population Services International (PSI), Ipas, FHI, and Marie Stopes 

International, and remains on the board of PSI. 

Dr. Yashovardhan Pradhan, MD, MPH, Director General, Department of Health Services, 

Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal 

Dr. Pradhan is currently the Director General of the Department of Health Services, Ministry of 

Health and Population, Nepal. As the Director General, he is responsible for providing leadership and 

ensuring the smooth functioning of the entire government network of vital public health services in the 

country, especially in rural and remote areas. As a high level official, he represents Nepal in various 

forums and has made technical presentations at international workshops and conferences. Dr. Pradhan 

has held several key positions under MoHP and has made significant contributions to the 

improvement of health services in Nepal. He was integral in the introduction of innovative 

interventions such as zinc for diarrhea, gentamicin in Uniject injections to treat newborn sepsis, the 

national expansion of Community-Based Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), and


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the introduction of the Community-Based Newborn Care Package. Dr. Pradhan is a founding member 

of the Society of Public Health Physicians of Nepal. 

Dr. Jamila Al Raebi, MD, Deputy Minister of Public Health and Population, Yemen 

Dr. Al Raebi is the Deputy Minister of Public Health and Population in Yemen. As the head of the 

Population Sector, she oversees the Ministry in its efforts to improve reproductive health and family 

planning. She is the leader of the national Improvement Collaborative in charge of scaling-up best 

practices in postpartum care, a member of the board of the national safe motherhood alliance, and an 

active proponent of the change in Yemeni law to regulate the age of marriage. 

Mr. Kazi Moksedur Rahman, CA, Deputy Executive Director, Shimantik 

Mr. Rahman has been working in public health since 1999. In his current role as Executive Director of 

Shimantik, a Bangladeshi national NGO, he is responsible for implementing several health and 

research activities in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, JHPIEGO, Save the Children USA, 

ICDDRB, the Extending Service Delivery Project, BRAC, and the Government of Bangladesh. He has 

attended several training and workshops on public health, and completed a chartered accountancy 

course at the University of Dhaka. 

Dr. Rushna Ravji, MD, MPH, MS, Technical Advisor, Office of Population & Reproductive 


Dr. Ravji is a physician with specialization in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health, 

specializing in Maternal and Child Health, Population Dynamics & Health Administration. She has 

more than 15 years of experience in policy formulation, program management, financial planning, 

monitoring and evaluation of international health and population programs focusing on primary 

healthcare, child survival, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, health sector reforms, and gender in health 

and population. Currently, Dr. Ravji is working as the Service Delivery Technical Advisor, Office of 

Population and Reproductive Health, United States Agency for International Development 

(USAID)/Washington. She is leading the Maximizing Access and Quality (MAQ), and Implementing 

Best Practices (IBP) portfolios, and providing strategic direction to US $135 million Extending 

Service Delivery Project for improving reproductive health and family planning (RH/FP) service 

delivery. Before joining USAID, Dr. Ravji was the Deputy Director for the Synergy Project providing 

programmatic and technical direction to US $50 million HIV/AIDS Project. 

Mr. Camille Saadé, Director, the POUZN Project, Academy for Educational Development 

(AED) 

Mr. Saadé is the Director of the Point-of-Use Water Disinfection and Zinc Treatment Project 

(POUZN) at the Academy for Educational Development (AED). He has developed and led the 

implementation of a methodology for mobilizing public and private resources in mutually beneficial 

partnerships in critical health areas, such as: the prevention of malnutrition, malaria, and diarrhea; the 

promotion of correct health behaviors; hygiene education; the promotion of safe drinking water and 

sanitation, and; the supply and demand for appropriate treatments for childhood diseases. In several 

countries, he created multi-partnerships between the government, the pharmaceutical industry, and 

development partners to establish oral rehydration solution and zinc as a standard treatment for 

childhood diarrhea. Prior to joining AED, Mr. Saadé spent 20 years working in the pharmaceutical 

industry in different marketing and management positions in several international operations with J&J, 

Upjohn, and Schering-Plough. He taught a course on Social Marketing at Boston University for 

several years. 

Dr. Harshad Sanghvi, MD, Vice President & Medical Director, JHPIEGO 

Dr. Sanghavi is the Vice President and Medical Director for JHPIEGO, and is a Senior Associate at 

the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. He is one of the main 

contributors to Managing Complications in Pregnancy and Childbirth: a Manual for Doctors and 

Midwives and is a contributing author to Managing Newborn Problems, both of which are part of the


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 85 

Integrated Management of Pregnancy and Childbirth series of manuals published by WHO. He has 

worked in 25 countries. For the last 10 years, he has led a global effort to expand emergency obstetric 

care, and has sought solutions for preventing postpartum hemorrhage, preeclampsia, and cervical 

cancer in low-resource settings. In 2009, he was the recipient of Global Health Council’s best 

practices award for his work in postpartum hemorrhage. He also received the honorary fellowship of 

the Indian Council of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2009 for his contribution to task shifting for 

emergency obstetric care in India. Dr. Sanghvi received his medical education and residency in Kenya 

and his graduate and postdoctoral training in the United Kingdom and the United States. He was 

formerly Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Nairobi. 

Dr. Tina G. Sanghvi, PhD, Country Director for Bangladesh, Alive & Thrive Initiative, 

Academy for Educational Development 

Dr. Sanghvi is the Bangladesh Country Director for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded 

Alive and Thrive initiative of the Academy of Educational Development. She has a PhD in nutrition 

and training in Global Burden of Disease analysis from Harvard University, and has worked for seven 

years with BASICS. During the last two years of BASICS II, she was the Technical Director and 

oversaw and coordinated the Immunization, Integrated Management of Childhood Illness and 

Newborn Health and Nutrition teams. For the past 30 years, she has worked as technical advisor and 

director of country operations in international public health programs in Asia, Africa, and Latin 

America. She is the author of several books and published articles, including Nutrition Essentials—A 

Guide for Health Managers, on how to mainstream nutrition in health services. 

Dr. Mary Philip Sebastian, PhD, Senior Program Officer, Population Council, India 

Dr. Sebastian is a Senior Program Officer with the Population Council in India. Currently, Dr. 

Sebastian is the principal investigator and co-principal investigator in a number of studies under the 

HIV/AIDS Program and Reproductive Health Program. This position involves tools development, 

managing large team of researchers, developing research protocols, and monitoring quality of 

intervention and research. She has extensive research and intervention implementation experience, and 

her areas of interest are adolescents and women. Prior to joining the Council, she worked as a 

professional social worker. Dr. Sebastian received her PhD in Humanities and Social Sciences from 

Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, the premier Indian institute for engineers. She received her 

Master’s degree in Social Work from Mumbai University. 

Dr. Maha Shadid, MD, Deputy Director, Private Sector Project, Jordan 

Dr. Maha is the Deputy Director of the Private Sector Project and has over 20 years of experience in 

development, implementation, monitoring of health, community development, and empowerment 

programs. She joined PSP in October 2007 for women’s health in Jordan. Dr. Maha earned a Medical 

degree from the Punjab Medical College/Lahore Pakistan in 1984. 

Dr. Mohammod Shahidullah, MD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Neonatology, 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University 

Dr. Shahidullah is a Professor and Chairman in the Department of Neonatology in Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujib Medical University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was appointed as the Pro-Vice 

Chancellor of BSMMU in March 2009. He finished his Medical degree in 1982 and obtained a Post- 

Graduation degree in pediatrics FCPS in 1989. Dr. Shahidullah is the author of 22 publications, and is 

a contributor to the Essential Newborn Care teaching and training manuals, prepared in Bangladesh. 

He worked for community-oriented newborn and maternal care in collaboration with government, 

NGOs and development partners in Bangladesh, and has attended a number of national and 

international conferences, policy meeting and workshop on neonatal issues in home and abroad. Dr. 

Shahidullah now holds the positions of President-Elect of Bangladesh Neonatal Forum, Vice President 

of Bangladesh Perinatal Society, Vice President of Bangladesh Pediatrics Association, and Secretary 

General of Bangladesh Child Health Foundation.


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Dr. Shabnam Shahnaz, MD, MPH, Country Representative, Pathfinder International, 

Bangladesh 

Dr. Shahnaz has over 20 years of experience in development and management of health, population 

and nutrition programs. She was one of the major building blocks of Pathfinder’s successful 

Bangladesh team in the 1990s, and led the development of the quality assessment and assurance 

processes in health and population programs, including FP and MCH care in the Pathfinder-supported 

sub-projects. Dr. Shahnaz also served as the Project Officer for the Women’s Right to Life and Health 

Project with UNICEF. As Regional Director with Marie Stopes International, she oversaw programs 

in South Asia, the Arab World and Eastern Europe, provided support and technical assistance to 

improve and expand reproductive health programs, and helped to develop models of service 

integration. She holds an MD from the Lady Hardinge Medical College, University of Delhi, India, 

and an MPH with a focus on Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina 

at Chapel Hill. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, United Kingdom, and 

chairs the National Executive Committee of the White Ribbons Alliance in Bangladesh. 

Sheikh Yahya Ahmed Abdulrahman Al-Naggar, President, Social Guidance Foundation, Yemen 

Sheikh Yahya Ahmed Abdulrahman Al-Naggar is President of the Social Guidance Foundation in 

Yemen, an institution he established with a number of religious scholars. The Foundation is dedicated 

to the process of religious reform, promoting positive influences, tolerance and moderation and the 

rejection of religious extremism and terrorism. He was, until recently, the Undersecretary of the 

Ministry of Endowments in Yemen, a post he left to become the national Chairperson for Direction 

and Guidance in the Yemen General People's Congress. He has continuously worked as an advocate 

for human rights, gender equality and development within the framework of religion. He has written 

more than 10 books on anti-terrorism, the reform of religious discourse and the modernization of 

religious thought to fit within modern times. 

Dr. Issam Shraideh, MD, Head of Gynecology/Obstetrics Specialty, Ministry of Health, Jordan 

Dr. Shraideh is a Gynecology/Obstetrics clinical specialist who served more than 25 years as a 

clinician and a master trainer at the Jordan Ministry of Health (MOH). For the last 10 years, he 

has been the head of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Specialty at the Jordan MOH. In this position 

he leads state of the art interventions at the MOH, advocates for program change and leads the 

introduction of FP/RH clinical advances Jordan. He is the head of the Jordan National Safe 

Motherhood Committee and has introduced many quality improvements to the FP/RH and 

gynecology obstetric services in all MOH hospitals. Before becoming the lead Gynecology 

Obstetric specialist for the MOH, Dr. Shraideh served as the MOH Director for a USAID-funded 

Comprehensive Postpartum Project, implemented by Pathfinder, where he introduced postpartum 

FP Services at all MOH and Royal Medical Services hospitals in Jordan 

Dr. Diana R. Silimperi, MD, Vice President, Center for Health Services, Management Sciences 

for Health 

Dr. Silimperi is a Vice President at Management Sciences for Health and leads its Center for Health 

Services. She is a public health pediatrician and epidemiologist with 25 years of experience in 

maternal and child health, nutrition, and infectious diseases, including over 15 years leading USAIDfunded 

projects. She has worked extensively in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (completing longterm 

assignments in Asia and Africa) and has held positions of management and leadership in 

USAID-funded bilateral projects. She has also served as the Deputy Director for the centrally-funded 

Quality Assurance Project and as the Technical Director of the global flagship for child health, 

BASICS. Dr. Silimperi has contributed to numerous WHO expert consultations in the area of 

improving child and adolescent healthcare and consulted for diverse UN organizations. Throughout 

her career, she has focused on delivering healthcare to the most underserved populations, including 

the urban poor; improving the quality of care across the continuum of services (from communitybased 

health workers through hospital level care); and scaling-up effective interventions to save lives. 

She has particular expertise in transitioning from relief to development and rebuilding health systems


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 87 

in post-conflict countries. Dr. Silimperi is a graduate of Duke University, where she was elected to Phi 

Beta Kappa. She also received her medical degree from Duke and was selected for the medical honor 

society, AOA. 

Mr. Jyoti Shrestha, MA, MPH, Research Coordinator, Mothers and Infants Research Activities 

(MIRA), Nepal 

Mr. Shrestha has been a Research Coordinator for Mothers and Infants Research Activities for 10 

years. Prior to this position, he worked as a Senior Planner in the Ministry of Health of Nepal. His 

area of expertise is in research on maternal and newborn healthcare. He successfully completed the 

mobilization of women’s group through randomized trial control to reduce maternal and newborn 

mortality in a rural Nepal research program. Mr. Shrestha earned his MA from Tribhuvan University, 

his MPH from the University of Liverpool, and advance training in research from Nepal Health 

Research Council. 

Dr. Manju Shukla, MD, State Director, Jharkhand, Vistaar Project, IntraHealth International, 

Inc., India 

Dr. Shukla has over 20 years of experience working for health programs. Most recently, she has been 

working with IntraHealth International, Inc. as the State Director in Jharkhand for the USAIDsupported 

Vistaar Project since November 2006. Prior to this, she worked as a State Representative for 

the MOST and A2Z Projects in Jharkhand. Her core competency areas are maternal health and 

community-based programming. She has a rich experience working with government and in tribal and 

remote areas. Dr. Shukla holds a Medical degree in Obstetrics and Gynecology. 

Dr. Ruth Simmons, PhD, Professor Emerita, The University of Michigan, School of Public 

Health; and President, Partners in Expanding Health Quality and Access 

Dr. Simmons is Professor Emerita in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at The 

University of Michigan School of Public Health with a PhD in Political Science from the University 

of California at Berkeley. She also serves as the President of Partners in Expanding Health Quality 

and Access. Dr. Simmons has worked with the World Health Organization and country programs in 

the development and implementation of the Strategic Approach to Strengthening Reproductive Health 

Policies and Programmes since 1991. She has more than three decades of experience in research and 

writing in the areas of institution-building, international health systems, family planning and related 

reproductive health policy and program development, quality of care, and user perspectives. An expert 

in organization development and health services action research, Dr. Simmons has worked extensively 

in South and East Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Dr. Simmons' current work includes, together with 

WHO, convening ExpandNet, a global learning community of senior health professionals, 

policymakers, and scholars engaged in efforts to take health service innovations to scale. 

Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh, MSW, Senior Technical Advisor, Vistaar Project, IntraHealth 

International Inc., India 

Mr. Singh has over 23 years of working experience with government and international agencies in 

planning, designing, and implementing health and nutrition programs. He started his career as a 

development promoter with DES/Plan international in 1987. He is currently working with IntraHealth 

International Inc. as the Senior Technical Advisor for the USAID-supported Vistaar Project in Uttar 

Pradesh. He also serves as the state theme leader for technical assistance in the Village Health and 

Nutrition Days. Mr. Singh completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs at Mahatma 

Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, University of Varanasi, India. 

Dr. Jeffrey Michael Smith, MD, MPH, Regional Technical Director, Asia, JHPIEGO 

Dr. Smith is an obstetrician/gynecologist with experience in clinical medicine, public health, and 

international development. Dr. Smith currently serves as JHPIEGO’s Regional Technical Director in 

Asia, based in Bangkok, Thailand, where he oversees the implementation of service delivery and 

health workforce development programs throughout South and Southeast Asia. He is also the


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 88 

Assistant Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics and of International Health at the Johns Hopkins 

University. Prior to that, he spent more than three years in Afghanistan working on reproductive, 

maternal and newborn health programs and the reconstruction of the Afghan health system. He is one 

of the key contributors to the WHO Managing Complications in Pregnancy and Childbirth and has 

written numerous academic papers and national and international strategic policy documents related to 

reproductive health and human capacity development. 

Dr. Jeff Spieler, PhD, Senior Technical Advisor for Science and Technology, Office of 

Population and Reproductive Health, Bureau for Global Health, USAID 

Dr. Spieler has 38 years of experience working internationally on family planning and reproductive 

health. Currently, he is the Senior Technical Advisor in Science and Technology in Population and 

Reproductive Health under contract at USAID in the Bureau for Global Health. He spent 26 years at 

USAID as the Senior Science Advisor (2007-2008), the Chief of the Research, Technology and 

Utilization Division (1993-2007), and a Biomedical Scientist (1983-1992). Previously, he worked as a 

Scientist in the Human Reproduction Program at WHO in Geneva (1972-1983) and as a Research 

Biologist at Lederle Pharmaceutical Company, Pearl River, NY (1967-1972). He is recognized 

worldwide as an expert in contraceptive technology, research in contraceptive development, the 

improvement of family planning service delivery, and research on HIV prevention, especially on 

microbicide development and male and female condoms. Dr. Spieler has traveled to 68 countries. He 

earned a BSc in Zoology from the University of Florida in 1967, an MSc in Zoological Sciences/ 

Reproductive Biology from Rutgers University in 1971, and a Doctorate in Public Service (Honorary) 

from the University of Florida in 2002. 

Mr. Robert Steinglass, MPH, Immunization Team Leader, Maternal and Child Health 

Integrated Program (MCHIP) 

Mr. Steinglass has 35 years of experience providing technical advice to ministries of health and 

international organizations on immunization and vaccine-preventable disease control, both at the 

global level and in more than 40 developing and transitional countries in all regions. He is the 

Immunization Team Leader for the USAID-funded Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program 

(MCHIP) and the Project Director for the BMGF-funded Africa Routine Immunization System 

Essentials. Mr. Steinglass has an MPH from The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. 

Ms. Kristen Stelljes, Senior Program Officer, Management Sciences for Health 

Ms. Stelljes is a Senior Program Officer in the Leadership, Management, and Sustainability Program 

at Management Sciences for Health. At MSH, she works on projects related to advocacy and 

professionalization for leadership, and management and fostering change. She has facilitated 

workshops on fostering change in East Africa and Asia and the Middle East. She is a virtual facilitator 

for strategic planning and fostering change. 

Dr. Uzma Syed, MBBS, MPH, MSc, Asia Regional Advisor, Saving Newborn Lives, Save the 

Children 

Dr. Uzma has over 14 years of experience in public health project management, design, 

implementation, monitoring and evaluation. A medical graduate with an MPH and MSc in 

Epidemiology from the University of London, she has been involved in maternal and newborn health 

programs for over 10 years and is working internationally in various capacities. As the Regional 

Advisor for Newborn Health in Asia for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Saving 

Newborn Lives program at Save the Children, she provides technical and managerial oversight to the 

country programs in Asia, guides development and implementation of country strategies, and supports 

policy, research and dissemination agenda at global and country levels. 

Dr. Youssef Tawfik, MBBCH, MPH, Senior Quality Improvement Advisor, MNCH, University 

Research Co.


6-11 March 2010 ● Page 89 

Dr. Tawfik is the Senior Quality Improvement Advisor in Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health 

(MNCH) for University Research Co. He has over 20 years of experience in MNCH in developing 

countries. His experience includes scaling-up MNCH services in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East; 

assuring the effectiveness of policies and programs; research and evaluation; and strengthening health 

systems. He has a Medical degree from Cairo University and a Master’s degree in Public Health from 

Harvard University. 

Dr. James Tielsch, PhD, Professor and Associate Chair for Academic Programs, Department of 

International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 

Dr. Tielsch has over 30 years of experience in epidemiologic studies and community trials of 

interventions to improve maternal and child health in low-income countries. He has worked in 

numerous countries in Asia and Africa and focuses most of his current effort on large communitybased 

trials in Nepal. He currently serves as Professor and Associate Chair for Academic Programs in 

the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. 

Tielsch earned both his Master’s and Doctoral degrees in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins 

University. 

Dr. Harshad Vaidya, MD, Medical Director, India 

Dr. Vaidya has over 17 years of experience in emergency obstetric care and neonatal care in rural 

India. He is the Medical Director of the 50-bed, charity-oriented private nursing home in northern 

Gujarat, India. He has been awarded twice by the government of Gujarat and India for qualitative 

management and best practice under “Chiramjivi Yojana” for improving maternal and neonatal care in 

rural Gujarat. Dr. Vaidya earned a Medical degree and Master’s degree in Obstetrics and Gynecology 

from the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, Gujarat. 

Ms. Girija Vaidyanathan, MSc, CFA, IAS, Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission and 

Commissioner, Maternal and Child Health, Tamil Nadu, India 

Ms. Vaidyanathan is currently the Mission Director of the National Rural Health Mission and the 

Commissioner of Maternal and Child Health in Tamil Nadu, India. She is a career civil servant who 

joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1981. Having spent nearly 15 years in the Health, 

Nutrition and Environment sector in various leadership positions, she has wide experience in 

implementation and financing in the development sector. In April 2008, she assumed her present 

position in the state of Tamil Nadu. Over the last two years, she has been directly involved in various 

programs to improve maternal health and reduce the maternal and infant mortality rates in the state. 

Ms. Vaidyanathan holds a Master’s degree in Physics and is a qualified chartered financial analyst. 

She is a doctoral candidate in health economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai.

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