Constella

Making an Impact

Constella Futures Creating Groundbreaking Public/Private Partnerships to Address Reproductive Health Crisis in India


The Health Minister of Uttarakhand and the Deputy Mission Director of USAID launching the voucher system at a public ceremony in May of this year.


Village women waiting for services at a private nursing home under the voucher system.


Photo of the first baby born under the voucher system. (Due to complications during birth, the baby had to be delivered via c-section. Had the mother given birth at home, which she would have done if not for the voucher system, both she and the child would have died.)

Aug. 21—More than 70,000 children are born each day in India, and, of those births, fewer than half are assisted by a health professional. Combine this with the fact that only 15 percent of pregnant women in India receive adequate prenatal care, and it's not surprising that one out of every 75 women in India dies of childbirth-related causes.

Thanks to a team of individuals led by Dr. Gadde Narayana, and the support of several government and private organizations in India, Constella Futures is now putting groundbreaking programs in place to help reverse these disturbing statistics through the Innovations in Family Planning Services Technical Assistance Project, or "ITAP."

Initiated by USAID in 2005, ITAP is designed to improve reproductive and child health in India by promoting and developing public/private partnerships that work to increase women's access to reproductive healthcare and family planning resources. As the primary contractor for ITAP, Constella Futures is charged with designing and developing the public/private partnership mechanisms, gaining the necessary buy-in and support from government officials and partner organizations, and working with the appropriate parties to implement the programs.

In little more than two years, Constella has developed and implemented five innovative mechanisms throughout two of the key states on which ITAP is focused - Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. These mechanisms, which are making reproductive healthcare facilities and family planning resources more accessible and affordable, are successfully teaming public and private organizations that might never have worked together otherwise, and the results are already having a significant impact.

The five mechanisms include a voucher system, social franchising, mobile health vans, clinic-based NGO projects, and social marketing. Constella Futures designed each mechanism based on the individual needs and resources of the region in which it is being implemented. Click on the links below to learn the details of each mechanism and the progress that has been made with each.

Where ITAP is Focused

While ITAP is a nationwide program, it is particularly focused on three northern states in India — Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand — where the population is growing at a much faster rate and where more families are below the poverty line. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India, with an estimated population of 170 million.

"I am extremely pleased with the progress that we have been able to make on this project in such a short time thanks to the support of a variety of government and non-government organizations," said Dr. Narayana, Director for ITAP. "Now that we have demonstrated the viability of these mechanisms, I am looking forward to the work that lies ahead as we expand these programs and continue to develop new, innovative ways to address the reproductive health crisis in India."

Gaining Support for ITAP

To help ensure the success of ITAP, before developing or implementing any of the above mechanisms, Constella Futures conducted workshops with key government and health officials in India at the national level and throughout each of the targeted states. The purpose of the workshops was to explain the benefits of public/private partnerships and to gain buy-in and support for the ITAP initiative. While some of the governments were initially fearful that the program was trying to privatize government institutions, they eventually came to understand and appreciate the power that public/private partnerships can have when trying to effect change on a broad scale.

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This page last modified Sep 27, 2007.