PSP Jordan

1. Outreach to women in their homes – PSP through its partners Circassian Charity Association (CCA) and General Union of Voluntary Societies (GUVS) recruits and trains women from local communities as Health Workers to provide important health information to women age 15 – 60 years old in towns and villages across Jordan. The Health Workers discuss women’s health issues, including benefits of modern family planning methods, ante-natal and post-natal care, and the importance of early detection of breast cancer. They also teach self-breast exam. Referrals for medical assistance are made to Ministry of Health and private and NGO providers, depending on the woman’s economic status and preference. To date the project has reached over 930,000 out of the planned 1,100,000 women.
2. Communications for Behavior Change- PSP communications support other project activities to focus on modern contraception, early detection of breast cancer and decreased violence against women. Messages are carefully tested among target audiences before sharing through TV and radio spots, TV talk shows, newspaper articles and print materials. Outreach workers, private doctors and Ministry of Health staff provide interpersonal motivation using the PSP materials. Partners include Abu Mahjoub Creations and Jordan Pioneers.
3. Training, Quality Assurance, & Continuing Medical Education (CME) for Private Physicians – Together with the Jordan Medical Council, Specialty Hospital, and University of Jordan, PSP provides training and CME for private physicians in topics related to women’s health. In-class training covers 14 topics such as Basic and Advanced Family Planning and Counseling, Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Obstetric Emergencies, Ante-natal and Post-Natal Care, and Diabetes. Clinical skills include Clinical Breast Exam, IUD Insertion, Ultrasound, and Pap Smear. A quality assurance system provides certificates of compliance for Family Planning, Clinical Breast Exam, Reproductive Tract/ Sexually Transmitted Infections. All courses receive official CME credit and PSP supports development of an official CME system for physicians in Jordan.
4. Private Provider Network – A network of 80 private women doctors across Jordan receive referrals for family planning and breast exam from the outreach program. Criteria for selection include meeting quality assurance requirements and providing services for agreed pricing. In return, PSP provides these doctors with contraceptive supplies, preference in CME courses and access to loans and business training to help expand their service capacity.
5. Private Contraceptive Market Access – Over 60% of family planning services are provided from the private sector, including private doctors, pharmacies and NGO’s. PSP monitors contraceptive market growth and continued availability of low cost brands in the market. It encourages active participation from pharmaceutical firms in promoting correct modern method information and introducing new methods.
6. Breast Cancer Early Detection Program – In Jordan, over 70% of breast cancer is detected in the late stages, when survival rates are very low. PSP provides information about breast cancer and the value of early detection through outreach and mass media communications. Outreach workers teach self-breast exam and refer women with breast symptoms to clinics or in severe cases, to King Hussein Cancer Center or King Abdullah Hospital for diagnosis. PSP has trained 461 private doctors to screen for breast cancer. PSP is a partner in the new Jordan Breast Cancer Program with King Hussein Cancer Foundation, King Hussein Cancer Center and the Ministry of Health to provide universal mammogram screening and referral.

7. Violence Against Women (VAW) –PSP works with lead national institutions to address domestic violence against women. Advocacy and awareness raising will establish the issue as a national priority among Jordanian policy and decision makers in partnership with the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA). The Queen Zein Al Sharaf Institute for Development (ZENID) is building capacity for 6 NGOs in the North, Central and South regions of Jordan to upgrade their counseling and referral services for health-based VAW awareness-raising activities. The Institute for Family Health (IFH) is training private hospital staff and private doctors to diagnose and refer women victims of violence. Finally, PSP has a special outreach effort through the NGO Circassian Charity Association (CCA) to reach 42,000 women in their homes to raise awareness and provide counseling and referral.

PSP is managed and implemented by Abt Associates with local Jordan partners above and technical assistance from US partners O’Hanlon Health and Banyon Global.

For more information please contact:

Rita Leavell
Email: rita_leavell@abtassoc.com

-or-

Margarita Fernandez
Email: Margarita_Fernandez@abtassoc.com