APHA DEIDS AND CATAS EVALUATION (2/15 TO 2/16/78)

APHA PROVIDES TECH ASSIST AND DELIVERY CONCERNING PROJ PLANNING,DESIGN,FEASIBILITY,AND OPERATIONS. DEIDS INFORMATION DISSEMINATION HAS BEEN WELL-EXECUTED WITH 1,000 HEALTH SYSTEMS (HS) STUDIED (30 IN DETAIL),INFORMATION ON 100-200 HS HAS BEEN COMPILED,AND INFORMATION ON 180 HS HAS BEEN PUBLISHED. SALUBRITAS, A NEWSLETTER, HAS UNDERGONE 4 PUBLICATIONS. A 3-YEAR WORK PLAN WAS DEVELOPED. NUTRITION AND PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CONFERENCE WAS CONVENED IN GENEVA. 33 PARTICIPANTS WERE SENT TO 4 CONFERENCES AND 3 WERE SENT TO US APHA MANPOWER TRNG. CATAS CONTRACT UTILIZATION IS ADEQUATE AND MEETS EXPECTATIONS. APHA IS PERFORMING ADEQUATELY,HOWEVER,IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT IMPROVEMTS IN STAFFING BE MADE. ALSO APHA SHOULD BE MORE WILLING TO ACCEPT APHA-APPOINTED CONSULTANTS. DEIDS CONSULTING HAS BEEN UNDERUTILIZED. ALSO,THERE IS NO SYSTEM FOR JUDGING THE QUALITY,EFFECTIVENESS,OR TRANSFERABILITY OF PROJECTS OR THEIR ELEMENTS. NUMEROUS RECOMMENDATIONS WERE MADE: 1)IMPROVED PROJECT DESIGN IS NECESSARY WITH APHA EXPANDING DEIDS CONCEPT TO OTHER PROJS; 2)DEVEL SUPPORT BUREAU (DSB) SHOULD CONSIDER COMBINED DEIDS & CATAS CONTRACTS,AS WELL AS CONSIDER GREATER FLEXIBILITY IN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND FIELD NEEDS; 3)AN INFORMATION GATHERING SYS SHOULD BE UTILIZED WHICH EXPANDS THE NUMBER OF PROJS COVERED AND PERIODICALLY UPDATES AND ANALYZES INFORMATION CONCERNING PROJS; 4)DEVEL OF A PERFECT EVALUATION GUIDELINE SHOULD BE REDIRECTED TO DEVELOPING ADEQUATE MEASURES TO IMPROVE THE STATUS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF HS; 5)CONTRACTOR SHOULD KEEP A CONTINUING RECORD OF MINORITY PERSONNEL & ORGANIZATNS AVAILABLE; 6)THAI DEMONSTRATION PROJ MGMT SHOULD BE VESTED IN USAID/THAILAND; 7)AID/PHA SHOULD CLEARLY DEFINE ROLE & SCOPE OF RESOURCE CENTER; 8)WRITING OF MONOGRAPHS SHOULD BE GEARED TOWARD AUDIENCE FOR WHICH THEY ARE INTENDED; AND 9)ONLY EVALUATIONS REQUESTED BY HOST GOVT SHOULD BE PERFORMED.