Health Communication Project

The purpose of the Health Communication Project is to work as the third Component of USAID’s flagship Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Program. The MCH Program’s overall goal is to dramatically and sustainably improve health outcomes of women and children in target areas, and the MCH Program comprises five components: 1) Family Planning/Reproductive Health; 2) Maternal, Newborn and Child Health; 3) Health Communication; 4) Health Commodities; and 5) Health Systems Strengthening. In order to support the overall goal of the MCH Program, this third Component of Health Communication will focus on the development, introduction, scale up, and evaluation of high impact communication interventions to improve the health-related behaviors of individuals and communities, especially married women of reproductive age (MWRA) and those who most directly influence them. The project will foster positive health practices in households and communities and support changes in cultural norms that will enable, reinforce and maintain these practices. The project will also play a lead role in generating demand for health products and services, utilizing innovative approaches drawn from commercial marketing and other behavior change-related disciplines. These health communication interventions will be integrated across the other four components of the MCH Program for maximum impact. The estimated amount of funding is 24.5 million USD for a period of 4.75 years, from February 1, 2014 through October 31, 2018.