ReachHealth Philippines

Reflections following the ReachHealth Initiative  7.7 million women in the Philippines wanted to use family planning in 2017, but were unable to do so.1 That same year, teenage pregnancies were at 9% and live births by teenage mothers (aged 10-19) were 196,478.2 In response to these dire unmet family planning needs and high teenage pregnancy rates, the Duke Global Health Innovation Center (Duke GHIC), RTI International, and the Johns Hopkins Center for Communications Programs, implemented the ReachHealth Initiative. ReachHealth, a five-year initiative (2018-2023), aimed to strengthen and improve access to critical health services for Filipino families. This blog explores the challenges, key activities, and reflections following the initiative’s conclusion. [caption id="attachment_4203" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Caption: Photos from the USAID Innovation Accelerator Impact Showcase held February 2022 in the Philippines. Four digital…

[caption id="attachment_520" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo courtesy RTI International[/caption] Research Triangle Park, NC – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has selected RTI International to implement a five-year initiative to strengthen and improve access to critical health services for Filipino families. Beginning later this year, the Family Planning / Maternal & Neonatal Health Innovations and Capacity Building Platform (ReachHealth) will help Philippine communities reduce unmet needs for family planning services and decrease teen pregnancy and newborn morbidity and mortality. “We share USAID’s vision and goal of empowering local and national stakeholders in the Philippines to improve family planning and maternal and neonatal health services, as well as ensure local health systems are strong and resilient,” said Richard Reithinger, Vice President of Global Health at RTI. “Building on accomplishments made…