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PAHO-FHI Agreement Promotes Better Reproductive Health -- April 14, 2000

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC -- The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Family Health International (FHI) have signed a four-year agreement to work together on a variety of efforts to improve reproductive health in Latin America, ranging from educational activities to clinical research.

The memorandum of understanding continues a long-standing relationship between FHI, a North Carolina-based nonprofit organization that works worldwide to improve reproductive health, and the Washington-based PAHO, which is the World Health Organization’s regional health agency for the Americas.

"Our initial work plan for the next couple of years includes a number of important activities, many of them educational," said Willard Cates, Jr., MD, MPH, president of FHI’s Family Health Institute, who announced the agreement today. "For example, we plan to hold regional and country-specific workshops on contraceptive technology for physicians, nurses and other health providers. And we plan to produce a number of educational tools, including an interactive CD-ROM on contraceptive methods and reproductive health."

Examples of other work that may be done during the initial years, provided adequate funding is available, include:

• designing and conducting clinical trials to provide national health officials with country-specific scientific data regarding the safety and efficacy of contraceptive methods
• helping the service delivery systems in countries to introduce new contraceptive choices
• collaborating with other research organizations to cultivate better research methodology and related technical skills
• distributing timely scientific and technical information to health providers and the public, especially about reproductive health topics of current interest to providers, policy-makers and the public.

"An important long-term goal for all of FHI’s work is helping scientists and health professionals worldwide to improve their capabilities," said Dr. Cates. "This collaborative agreement will enhance professional skills throughout the hemisphere."

PAHO is the world’s oldest international health agency, composed of 35 member countries in the Americas and three European governments with territories in the Western Hemisphere.

The new agreement follows recent awards to FHI. In March, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) selected FHI to manage an international center supporting research involving tropical and other infectious diseases in tropical regions. Last fall, NIAID awarded FHI a contract to manage a network of research universities and institutions that are evaluating HIV prevention interventions in the United States and in developing countries. In December, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded FHI a five-year agreement to continue contraceptive research and related reproductive health projects. And in 1998, USAID selected FHI to oversee USAID’s Implementing AIDS Prevention and Care (IMPACT) Project, a five-year program in more than 30 developing countries to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and provide care for those who are HIV infected.

Based in North Carolina, FHI has more than 400 employees worldwide and offices in 20 countries. In addition to its nonprofit work for government agencies and private foundations, FHI’s affiliate, PharmaLinkFHI, provides global clinical research services to the pharmaceutical industry.