Information

Official Programme web-site: http://www.motherandchild.org.ua

Implementation of Ukrainian-Swiss Mother and Child Health Programme is based on the bilateral agreement between the governments of Ukraine and Switzerland. According to the agreement #81009188 signed on December 10, 2007 Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) entrusts the Programme implementation to the Swiss Tropical Institute (STI) in cooperation with Ukrainian partners.

Programme Donor: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, represented in Ukraine by the Swiss Cooperation Office.

Main implementing bodies:

• Swiss Centre for International Health - department of the Swiss Tropical Institute (STI), Basel, Switzerland.
• Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

Partners and other organizations involved

Programme Objective: Improved availability, quality, effectiveness and access to promotional, preventive and curative maternal and child health (MCH) services in selected Ukrainian oblasts, rayons and communities.

The Programme consists of 3 main and 1 integrated components that complement each other.

Component 1: Intersectoral model of mother and child health (MCH) promotion

Component 2: Integrated Perinatal Care

Component 3: Information and Communication Technologies for health protection

Integrated Component 4: Strengthening MCH services management capacity.

Local partners of the Programme are:

• Ivano-Frankivsk oblast (pilot rayons - Kalush, Gorodenka, Kolomiya, Nadvirna, Snyatyn, associated rayon – Verhovina);
• Volyn oblast (pilot rayons - Ratne, Gorohiv, Lutsk, Lyuboml, Manevichi);
• Vinnitsa oblast (pilot rayons - Khmilnyk, Illintsi, Kalynivka, Kozyatyn, Tulchin, associated rayon – Mogiliv-Podilskiy);
• Autonomous republic of Crimea (pilot rayons - Dzhankoy, Lenino, Saky, Bahchisaray, associated rayon - Krasnogvardeysk).

According to the agreement between the Swiss Tropical Institute (STI) and Child Well-Being Fund (CWBF), signed on October 22, 2008, the implementation of Programme Component 1 “Intersectoral model of mother and child health promotion” is entrusted to CWBF.

Component 1 “Intersectoral model of mother and child health promotion”

In November 2008 Child Well-Being Fund (CWBF) started the implementation of Component 1 “Intersectoral model of mother and child health promotion”. It is based on the experience of the project «Promoting Mother and Child Health», realized by the Child Well-being Fund with support of the Swiss Agency of Development and Cooperation during 2005-2007 in four pilot rayons of Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk and Volyn regions.

Mother and Child Health Promotion is based on the principle that prevention of the pregnancy complications starts with the provision of quality antenatal care, psychological support, preventive client-oriented counseling and informing of pregnant women, and the medical services themselves should include not only provision of the quality clinical care in terms of childbirth but also ensure follow-up observation and assistance to newborns, organization of social and educational support of parents, encouraging safe pregnancy and responsible parenthood, public health promotion based on the intersectoral approach.

Health should be addressed not only through health care establishments but through behavioural changes and community decisions. Health Promotion is based on five priorities stated in the Ottawa Charter and below have been considered while elaborating the model.

• Build Healthy Public Policy.
• Create Supportive Environments.
• Strengthen Community Actions.
• Develop Personal Skills.
• Reorient Health Services.

Component 1 consists of 3 parts:

• Establishment of effective cross-sectoral cooperation in the sphere of promotion mother and child health and child. Support to the local inter-sectoral Coordination Committees. Development and realization of social policy on the regional level.
• Strengthening of the capacity of medical and social workers in the provision of consulting services oriented on people. Trainings for local specialist on implementation of two services: “counseling based on the client-oriented approach” and „Preparation of pregnant women and their family members to delivery and parenting».
• Strengthening of the capacity of local communities in the implementation of new services to promote the health of mother and child. Trainings for local specialist on implementation of two services: “Training on Health” (peer-education method to work with teenagers); “Early childhood development”.

Detailed information about other components of the Programme “Mother and Child Health”