Enterprise in Mexico : a strategic approach to private sector family planning

initiated a program to help Mexican private sector organizations develop and deliver high-quality family planning (FP) services. The program has two major components. A workplace component has collaborated with private sector employers and nongovernmental FP organizations to expand company- based FP programs. Results have included dramatic declines in work force pregnancy rates, substantial savings to the companies, and a gradual but growing demand on the part of employers for FP services. Currently, the employers cover all recurrent costs of the workplace-based programs. The program"s market-based component has led to two distinct developments. The first was the creation of a self-sustaining business, PROTA, to procure and distribute IUD"s to private doctors and clinics for resale to poor and middle income people nationwide. To date, PROTA has distributed some 34,300 IUD"s and established a regular clientele of over 580 private doctors. The second achievement was the establishment of private sector community clinics in economically marginal neighborhoods. These clinics have attracted more than 56,000 new FP acceptors to date and, most importantly, have successfully reached the targeted low- income population. A key factor in the success of the workplace component was the full use of the social, kinship, and other informal networks binding Mexico"s industrial and business leaders. The market-based component demonstrated that, although government subsidies limit the profitability of FP services, commercial viability can be achieved by offering FP as part of an integrated health care package.