Quarterly Progress Report: Maternal and Child Survival Program

MCSP engaged the districts in the supported provinces in revising their 2018 annual workplans and budgets based on data and service quality assessment findings. This resulted in the inclusion of high-impact interventions to respond to identified gaps in the revised workplans and recommended resource allocation in an equitable manner. Additionally, MCSP provided technical assistance during provincial integrated management meetings, contributing to discussions and making on-the-spot recommendations for improving specific indicators. The program used HMIS data and bottleneck analyses to decide on the inclusion of high-impact interventions, such as the renovation or construction of outreach posts and shelters, procurement of tents, and training in emergency triage and treatment. MCSP also influenced two districts in Luapula Province to design quality improvement projects, and worked closely with the Mansa District Health Office during the measles outbreak. MCSP has been facilitating the formation of mentorship teams in the provinces and has strengthened the district mentorship teams across 43 districts. The program supported three districts in Muchinga and oriented them in the development of mentorship dashboards, which should inform mentorship rounds. MCSP also obtained ethical approval for a study to find out the feasibility of decentralizing the General Nursing Council of Zambia's continuous professional development program. The program completed instructional design workshops for the development of four e-learning modules in antenatal care, HIV, integrated management of acute malnutrition, and maternal, infant, and young child nutrition. MCSP also completed the first round of qualitative data collection for its learning question study on the MCSP/Zambia technical assistance model. Despite some unforeseen obstacles and challenges, MCSP has been working to address them. These include delayed authorization of expenditure of the COC budgets, lack of IEC materials and job aids, and inadequate transport for follow-up visits. MCSP has been advocating for the districts to budget for job aids and has been lobbying for Provincial TOTs to be established. To monitor field activities and ensure compliance with USAID family planning and commodity regulations, MCSP has trained and certified all staff at the national and provincial levels in FP compliance. The program has also emphasized the need for compliance with FP rules and regulations to the Ministry of Health at all levels. Overall, MCSP is on track under Objective 1, providing demand-driven technical assistance for sustainable scale-up of RMNCAH&N interventions across the four focus provinces of Zambia. The program has worked closely with all districts in the four supported provinces to make recommendations for high-impact interventions and has used multiple avenues to provide technical support.