Creating the conditions for scaling up the integration of reproductive health services for men in health and family welfare centers in Bangladesh

Abstract

An operations research (OR) study supported by the Population Councils Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) Program had showed that reproductive health services for men could be feasibly and acceptably integrated within the Health and Family Welfare Centres (HFWC) in Bangladesh which have been primarily women-centered health facilities (NIPORT et al. 2004). Given these findings this follow-on study was implemented to create the conditions for scaling up the model through identifying and piloting the operational details to consider when taking the intervention to scale. The Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP) in collaboration with the Institute of Child and Mother Health (ICMH) scaled up the intervention in 40 HFWCs selected from four districts of Dhaka division. Exit interviews with clients and observations of client-provider interactions revealed a satisfactory quality of services overall measured in terms of providers focusing on the clients needs asking the right questions about their problems and service needs including appropriate questions for RTI / STI clients and correctly following syndromic management protocols. Most of the clients interviewed were satisfied with the services they had received. (Excerpts)