Implementing the Integration of Component Services for Reproductive Health

TLDR

After the 1994 Cairo conference, national policymaking and research on the Cairo Program of Action intensified worldwide. This report evaluates the effectiveness of integrating STI/HIV management with maternal and child health‑family planning services as a key component of the Cairo agenda. The authors use quantitative and qualitative data from Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia to highlight challenges faced by reproductive health program implementers. Findings reveal a pressing need to reassess the emphasis on family‑planning services and the managerial processes of reproductive health policies, with implications for future policy and program direction.

Abstract

In the wake of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, considerable activity has occurred both in national policymaking for reproductive health and in research on the implementation of the Cairo Program of Action. This report considers how effectively a key component of the Cairo agenda--integration of the management of sexually transmitted infections, including human immunodeficiency virus, with maternal and child health-family planning services--has been implemented. Quantitative and qualitative data are used to illuminate the difficulties faced by implementers of reproductive health programs in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia. In these countries, clear evidence is found of a critical need to reexamine the continuing focus on family planning services and the nature of the processes by which managers implement reproductive health policies. Implications of findings for policy and program direction are discussed.