USAID|MIKOLO Quarterly Progress Report

The project aims to increase the use of healthcare services at the community level and promote the adoption of healthy behaviors among women of childbearing age and children under five. The project has developed four sub-objectives: sustainably develop systems, capacity, and ownership of local partners; increase the availability and access to basic healthcare services in the project's target communes; improve the quality of basic healthcare services at the community level; and increase the adoption of healthy behaviors and practices. To achieve these objectives, the project uses a community-based approach that integrates various strategies aimed at reducing gender inequality and maximizing sustainability. During the third quarter of fiscal year 2016, the project strengthened its partnership with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) at the central and district levels in the eight target areas. The project also focused on the operationalization of the new database, known as the District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2). The results of the third quarter are as follows: 506 Community Care Development Sites (CCDSs) and Community Support and Action Networks (COSANs) met the 3 criteria of functionality, representing 100% of the annual objective. The project reached 24,938 new users of family planning (FP) services and 98,066 regular users, bringing the current rate of success relative to the set objective for FY 2016 to 87% for new users and 89% for regular users, respectively. With the results obtained to date, 108% of the couple-years of protection (CYP) objective for FY 2016 has been reached. The project also referred 1,531 clients for long-acting and permanent methods, bringing the total number of clients referred for this FY 2016 to 5,705 (63% of the objective). In addition, the project provided treatment for various health conditions, including malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea. A total of 37,732 children under five with fever benefited from a rapid diagnostic test (RDT), representing 92% of fever cases presented to the Community Health Volunteers (CHVs). Among them, 49% tested positive for malaria and 72% of cases of uncomplicated malaria were treated with Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACT). The project also provided growth monitoring services to 180,691 children under five, with a total of 534,628 children monitored during the FY 2016, for a 90% success rate as measured against the annual objective. The project also focused on improving the quality of basic healthcare services at the community level. The monthly reporting rate of CHVs was 87% for the quarter. A total of 4,613 CHVs (87% of functional CHVs) received an on-site supervisory visit during this quarter, and 91% of the CHVs were part of the COSAN monthly reviews. The project also organized monthly meetings with COSAN members, with 33% of the health center heads participating. Furthermore, the project increased the adoption of healthy behaviors and practices. A total of 13,122 households were certified "Champion Household," bringing to 16,773 the number of certified households, representing 55% of the annual objective. The project also conducted 3,234 broadcasts during the third quarter, for a total of 10,237 broadcasts during the FY 2016 (79% of the annual objective). Additionally, 16,567 women were educated on exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), with a rate of achievement relative to the annual objective of 69%. The project's Monitoring and Evaluation team focused on setting up and implementing DHIS2 during the third quarter. The new members of the NGOs field team, comprised of support technicians and their supervisors, technical managers, and monitoring and evaluation managers, were part of an orientation session about the monitoring and evaluation system. A total of 117 new recruits were part of these orientation sessions.