WASHINGTON, July 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) has awarded a $50 million cooperative
agreement to U.S.-based Pathfinder International to fund a five-year program
that will make sustainable improvements to key family health services and
planning in Ethiopia.
The project will work in selected districts at national, regional, district
and community levels to improve maternal, newborn and child health. It will
operate largely in support of Ethiopia's health extension program, training
outreach workers to make services better and more available. The project will
undertake efforts to provide child health services including immunization,
improved access to nutrition and clean water, vitamin A distribution,
treatment of diarrheal disease and pneumonia, and education on safe birthing
practices and newborn care.
The program will also address a lack of family planning services in
Ethiopia--apparent from the U.S.-based Demographic and Health Survey, which is
widely considered the gold standard for health data in Ethiopia and many
countries around the world. The survey indicates that the average Ethiopian
man or woman would prefer to have 4.0 children, while the actual average is
5.4. Furthermore, 34 percent of married women in Ethiopia want to wait at
least two years between births or stop childbearing entirely, but are not
using contraception. The new program will respond to this need by training
nurses and community workers on family planning methods and by offering a
range of contraceptives.
In addition to supporting better maternal, newborn and child health across the
country, the program also aims to ease population growth rates, and thereby
alleviate the economic strain on Ethiopian families and a dwindling food
supply.
For more information about USAID and its programs in Ethiopia, visit
www.usaid.gov.
The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development,
have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50
years.
CONTACT: USAID Public Information, 202-712-4810
SOURCE U.S. Agency for International Development
USAID Press Office, +1-202-712-2310
