‘Saathiya’ - A Youth-Friendly Family Planning Service Launched in Agra
Agra, June 4, 2009: The USAID-funded Market-based Partnerships for Health Project today launched ‘Saathiya -Youth-friendly Network’ in the city of Agra, Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the auspicious presence of Dr. Ram Ratan, Chief Medical Officer, Agra. Targeted at the family planning and reproductive health needs of the low-income, married couples in the city, Saathiya or “Trusted Partner” provides them with reliable information, counseling, and contraception products to help prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce sexually transmitted infections, and encourage the practice of birth spacing for new mothers. The Saathiya program has been successfully running in Lucknow since October 2007. It was recently launched in Dehradun and will be expanded to Haridwar, Allahabad, Varanasi and Barabanki in the next few months.
Launching the service, Chief Guest Dr. Ram Ratan, CMO, Agra commended this unique coalition of medical providers and contraceptive manufacturers, which will empower young married couples in the city to make informed choices on childbearing and other reproductive health issues.
The Saathiya service is also complemented by an integrated youth oriented promotional campaign, which includes promotions in movie theaters, street theatre productions, radio advertising, billboards, signs, and in-store and in-clinic informational materials. Separate toll-free helpline numbers for men (1800-180-180-2) and women (1800-180-180-1) are also available for land lines and mobile phones users in the city, making information available from 9 in the morning to 12 midnight, 7 days a week. To encourage young couples to seek family planning services from the Saathiya network, substantial discounts are available on consultations and products through the ‘Saathiya Health Card’. Available at all Saathiya network provider outlets, the card entitles clients to a 5% discount on contraceptive products from Saathiya chemists and a 50% discount on family planning consultations from Saathiya network doctors.
Speaking on the need for a program like Saathiya, Mr. Sanjeev Vyas, Program Director, Saathiya said, “As per National Family Health Survey (NFHS 3), the unmet need for family planning in UP is highest for the young - in the age group 15-19 years it is 32.2 % and in the age group 20-24 it is 28.9 %.Young couples face numerous barriers such as embarrassment, provider biases, peer/family pressure and low levels of knowledge to access family planning services. What Saathiya provides to them is quality information in a non-threatening and friendly environment”.
Addressing the distinguished gathering of government officials and representatives from the private sector, civil society groups, and the media, Ms. Sheena Chhabra, Chief, Health Systems Division, USAID/India said “USAID is proud to be associated with Saathiya which offers quality consultancy and counseling services to married couples so that they are able to take control of their future.”
About the Market-based Partnerships for Health Project
For queries, please contact: Sanjiv Singh / Samhita Tanti, Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick at 91 981 147 7778 / 09718021223
‘Saathiya’ - A Youth-Friendly Family Planning Service Launched in Allahabad
Allahabad, June 18, 2009: The USAID-funded Market-based Partnerships for Health Project today launched ‘Saathiya -Youth-friendly Network’ in the city of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh in the auspicious presence of Dr. P.K. Sinha, Chief Medical Officer, Allahabad. Targeted at the family planning and reproductive health needs of the low-income, married couples in the city, Saathiya or “Trusted Partner” provides them with reliable information, counseling, and contraception products to help prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce sexually transmitted infections, and encourage the practice of birth spacing for new mothers. The Saathiya program has been successfully running in Lucknow since October, 2007. It was recently launched in Dehradun, Agra and Haridwar and is being expanded to Varanasi and Barabanki in the next few months.
The Saathiya network has over 3,200 chemist shops, family doctors, obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYNs) in the program cities, who have undergone comprehensive training and orientation to strengthen their family planning knowledge and counseling skills. In Allahabad, it has __ chemists, __ family doctors and __ OB/GYNs in the network.
The Saathiya network has support from healthcare providers associations, including the Prayag Chemist & Druggist Association (PCDA), Chemist Association of Allahabad; National Integrated Medicaion Association (NIMA); Indian Medical Association (IMA), Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Allahabad chapter (FOGSI) and AYUSH Medical Association. Saathiya is also partnering with a variety of private sector contraceptive manufacturers, including JK Ansell Limited (condoms), Win-Medicare Private Limited (emergency contraception), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited (low dose oral contraceptive pills), and Contech Devices Ltd. (IUDs) to promote Youth-friendly brands of contraceptives.
The Saathiya service is also complemented by an integrated youth oriented promotional campaign, which includes promotions in movie theaters, street theatre productions, radio advertising, billboards, signs, and in-store and in-clinic informational materials. Separate toll-free helpline numbers for women (1800-180-180-1) and men (1800-180-180-2) are also available for land lines and mobile phones users in the city, making information available from 9 in the morning to 12 midnight, 7 days a week. To encourage young couples to seek family planning services from the Saathiya network, substantial discounts are available on consultations and products through the ‘Saathiya Health Card’. Available at all Saathiya network provider outlets, the card entitles clients to a 5% discount on contraceptive products from Saathiya chemists and a 50% discount on family planning consultations from Saathiya network doctors.
Speaking on the need for a program like Saathiya, Mr. Sanjeev Vyas, Program Director, Saathiya said, “The 2005 USAID Reproductive Health Indicators Survey (RHIS) in Uttar Pradesh (UP) collected data on 4,420 married women aged 15-29 and found that the median age of marriage is 17. For married youth 15-29 who use contraception, many rely on condoms, especially among the younger age group. Specifically, married women 20-24 who use contraceptives, the method mix includes: 36% condoms, 23% rhythm, 21% sterilization, and 8% pills. Demand for children after marriage is high in India, yet this is coupled by an increasingly significant desire to space children more effectively. What Saathiya provides to them is quality information in a non-threatening and friendly environment”.
About the Market-based Partnerships for Health Project
The USAID funded Market-based Partnerships (MBPs) for Health Project provides technical assistance to explore and adapt private sector strategies and foster commercial sector alliances to address a wide range of health issues in the areas of Reproductive Health (RH), Maternal and Child Survival (MCH), TB, safe water, hygiene promotion and HIV/AIDS. The project aims to demonstrate that MBPs can deliver health impact and are commercially viable, and partner with ‘natural owners’ who can take these programs to scale to address the needs of the people at the Base-of the-Pyramid (BOP) and rural populations.
For further queries, please contact: Sanjiv Singh, Corporate Voice|Weber Shandwick at 91 981 184 30943 or E-mail at sanjiv@corvoshandwick.co.in
‘Saathiya’ - A Youth-Friendly Family Planning Service Launched in Barabanki
Barabanki, July 02, 2009: Encouraged by the successful launch in Lucknow, Agra, Haridwar, Dehradun, Allahabad and Varanasi, the USAID-funded Market-based Partnerships for Health Project, today launched ‘Saathiya - Youth-friendly Network’ in the city of Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh in the auspicious presence of Mr. K. Ravindra Nayak, District Magistrate, Barabanki and Dr. U. K. Sonkar, Additional Chief Medical Officer, Barabanki. Targeted at the family planning and reproductive health needs of the low-income, married couples in the city, Saathiya or “Trusted Partner” provides the married couples with reliable information, counseling, and contraception products to help prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce sexually transmitted infections, and encourage the practice of birth spacing for new mothers. The Saathiya program has been successfully running in
The Saathiya network has over 3,200 chemist shops, family doctors, obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYNs) in the program cities, who have undergone comprehensive training and orientation to strengthen their family planning knowledge and counseling skills. In Barabanki, it has 43 chemists, 68 family doctors and 11 OB/GYNs in the network.
‘Saathiya’ - A Youth-Friendly Family Planning Service Launched in Haridwar
The Saathiya network has over 3,200 chemist shops, family doctors, obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYNs) in the program cities, who have undergone comprehensive training and orientation to strengthen their family planning knowledge and counseling skills. In Haridwar, it has 50 chemists, 50 family doctors and 10 OB/GYNs in the network. The Saathiya network has support from healthcare providers associations, including the Haridwar Chemist Association (HCA Haridwar); the Medical Practitioners Association (MPA Haridwar) and Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology Society (FOGSI Haridwar). Saathiya is also partnering with a variety of private sector contraceptive manufacturers, including JK Ansell Limited (condoms), Win-Medicare Private Limited (emergency contraception), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited (low dose oral contraceptive pills), and Contech Devices Ltd. (IUDs) to promote Youth-friendly brands of contraceptives.
Launch of ‘Saathiya’ - A Youth-Friendly Family Planning Network -
Dehradun
Dehradun, March 26, 2009: The USAID-funded Market-Based Partnerships for Health Project today launched ‘Saathiya -Youth-friendly Network’ to address the family planning and reproductive health needs of young married couples in the city of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Targeted at low-income, 15-24 year old married couples in the city, Saathiya or “Trusted Partner” provides them with information, counseling, and contraception products in a non-threatening environment to help prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce sexually transmitted infections, and encourage the practice of birth spacing for new mothers. Saathiya has a network of over 3,200 chemist shops, traditional medical providers, and obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYNs), and general physicians who have undergone comprehensive training and orientation to strengthen their family planning knowledge and counseling skills.
The program is complemented by an integrated youth oriented promotional campaign, which includes promotions in movie theaters, street theatre productions, radio advertising, billboards, signs, and in-store and in-clinic informational materials. Separate toll-free helpline numbers for men (1800-180-180-2) and women (1800-180-180-1) are also available for land lines and mobile phones users in the city, making information available from 9 in the morning to 12 midnight, 7 days a week. To encourage young couples to seek family planning services from the Saathiya network, substantial discounts are available on consultations and products through the ‘Saathiya Health Card’. Available at all Saathiya network provider outlets, the card entitles clients to a 5% discount on contraceptive products from Saathiya chemists and a 50% discount on family planning consultations from Saathiya network doctors.
Partnership is the key to this initiative. The Saathiya network has support from healthcare providers associations, Chemist Association Dehradun (CAD); Dehradun chapter of the National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA); Uttarakhand Homeopathic Medical Association (UHMA Dehradun), Indian Medical Association (IMA Dehradun) and the Dehradun Obstetrics and Gynecology Association (FOGSI Dehradun). Saathiya is also partnering with a variety of private sector contraceptive manufacturers, including JK Ansell Limited (condoms), Win-Medicare Private Limited (emergency contraceptives), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited (low dose oral contraceptive pills), and Contech Devices Ltd. (IUDs) to produce youth friendly brands of contraceptives.
Addressing the distinguished gathering of government officials and representatives from the private sector, civil society groups, and the media, Ms. Kerry Pelzman, Director, Office of Population, Health and Nutrition, USAID/India said “Married youth in Uttarakhand have a significant unmet need for contraception. USAID is proud to be associated with Saathiya which offers quality consultancy and counseling services to the young couples so that they are able to take control of their future.”
Saathiya was successfully launched in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) in 2007. In addition to Dehradun, the network will spread to six more cities in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the next few months.
For queries, please contact: Ranjini Chalam, Corporate Voice|Weber Shandwick at 91 981 095 6888 or E-mail at ranjini@corvoshandwick.co.in
‘Saathiya’ - A Youth-Friendly Family Planning Service Launched in
The Saathiya network has over 3,200 chemist shops, family doctors, obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYNs) in the program cities, who have undergone comprehensive training and orientation to strengthen their family planning knowledge and counseling skills. In