Tajikistan Maternal and Child Health Project Performance Report (April –June, 2009)

The project is in its first year of implementation in Mastchoh, Taboshar, Gonchi districts of Sughd Oblast and Hisor District of the RRS Oblast. The project also works in four districts of Sughd where it previously implemented a four-year USAID-funded Child Survival program, Spitamen, Asht, Shahristan, and Zafarabod. The project's objectives are to increase the percentage of mothers of children under two years who practice improved feeding, caring, and health-seeking practices, increase the percentage of women who receive adequate maternal and newborn care, and increase the capacity of the Department of Health (DoH) health facilities to deliver quality maternal and child health services. To achieve these objectives, the project engages with community health educators (CHEs) in the districts of Mastchoh, Gonchi, and Taboshar, providing them with training on behavior change and other topics. The project also conducts training and community development activities in the districts of Asht, Shahristan, Spitamen, and Zafarabod, where it is building on the achievements of the Mercy Corps and USAID Sughd Child Survival Project. These activities include training on birth planning, project proposal development, healthy food, and acute respiratory infection (ARI), as well as community education sessions on healthy food and ARI. The project also conducted a KPC Assessment Baseline in Hisor District in June, which covered the two jamoats of Khonakoi Kuhi and Navobod, with a combined population of 49,849 people. The survey was conducted with a randomly selected sample of 95 families who have children under 6 months and 95 families having children between 6 and 23 months of age. In total, 190 households were surveyed and 190 children were assessed during the survey. The results of the KPC baseline survey in Hisor District showed that 71% of mothers reported washing their hands after using the toilet, while 45% reported washing their hands before preparing food. The survey also found that 55% of children under 6 months had received a vitamin A supplement in the past 6 months, while 75% of children between 6 and 23 months had received a vitamin A supplement in the past 6 months. The project's engagement with community health educators and the conduct of training and community development activities are expected to contribute to the achievement of the project's objectives and ultimately reduce infant and maternal mortality in the target districts.