Family Planning Programming in Timor-Leste Maternal and Child Health in Developing Countries March 2008

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Map of Timor-Leste

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Timor-Leste: The newest nation in the world

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL MOH Health System Post-Independence Vote (supply-side) Human resource pool at low level; few Timorese doctors; MW with poor communication skills MOH ‘under construction’ with the development of policies and strategic approaches Health facilities destroyed and poorly equipped High UN agency and INGO presence

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Community Utilization of Health Services (demand-side) t Distrust and very low utilization of government health services Increased dispersion of the population Strong traditional beliefs and practices regarding health and care seeking

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL The Indonesian Legacy 24 years of brutal Indonesian military occupation An estimated 100,000 – 250,000 died, human rights abuses: torture, imprisoned, rape, forced displacement Keluarga Berencana Indonesian FP program ‘Dua anak cukup’ Coercive family planning programming in East Timor

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Post-conflict Age Pyramid A dearth of males aged in their twenties A very youthful population with 52% of the population < 15 years A post-independence baby boom

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Religion & Culture Strong animist beliefs and practices are prevalent among Timorese 97% of Timorese identify as Catholic

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Household Characteristics Majority of the population live in rural areas, often hard to access 28% of households have electricity urban = 74% rural areas = 3% - 20% Only about half of households obtain their drinking water from a protected source

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Household Characteristics Radio: 64%ever listen TV: 35% ever watch Newspaper: 18% ever read 4% of households have a motorcycle, 1.5% a private car/truck GNI per capita in 2003 = $460/year Firewood is the major source of cooking fuel

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Education and Literacy For older women years of age, 81% have received no schooling Overall, 37% of the population have received no schooling 44% of women and 43% of men are unable to read

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Utilization of Services 90% of women deliver at home 20% of births were attended by a SBA Only 9.7% current users of a modern contraceptive Postpartum and newborn care negligible

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL 2003 DHS Family Planning Data TFR at 7.8 births per woman is the highest in the world Over 60% of women cannot spontaneously identify a method of contraception Overall, “ideal” family size is 5.7 children Only 19% of women have ever used contraception and 9.7% are Currently using a method

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Percentage of Women Wanting No More Children by Current Parity: Country Comparison Number of living children Timor Leste Cambodia Indonesia 2002/ Philippines Vietnam

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Your turn! How would you propose HAI respond to the DHS results in the context of Timor-Leste? What additional information do you need? What are 2-3 key messages you would recommend? What are some key strategies you would you employ?

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL HAI Program: ‘Promoting community demand for child spacing in Timor-Leste’ Baseline Qualitative Assessment  Describe the prevailing knowledge, beliefs, practices, preferences and care-seeking behaviors related child spacing  What & who influences reproductive choices?  What do women and families want with regard to spacing their children or limiting family size?  How do community members access and use information regarding child spacing?

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL “My mother said I should have many children because I am the only girl in the my family.” “How many children we have is up to God” “A woman should be before getting pregnant so her body is mature enough to accept the physical demands. “ “Because people have many children they can’t afford to feed them and have not money to pay for the school fee.”

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL “When we want to stop having babies then we inform the Kukunain (magic/mystic man), so that they can ask at the Sacred House and we will not get pregnant again.” “We have our own tradition to follow for spacing our children. The new mother takes the ash for the traditional fire pit, she carries the ash and thinks deep inside herself that only in three or four years she can have another baby, so she spreads the ash in a faraway place. But if the ash is spread in a nearby place, the mother will get pregnant again in a short time.”

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Improve capacity of MOH family planning services What we did:  Emphasized the notion of child spacing versus FP  Worked with the MOH to improve the quality of services delivered through integrated MNC supervision visits of MWs  Provided follow-up FP skills check for MWs  Conducted workshops to train MWs on working in communities and improving counseling skills  Developed health promotion tools and provided MOH staff and CHW training for use in communities

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Increase community demand What we did  Community level health promotion  Benefits of spacing your children  Knowledge of modern methods  Debunking some myths  For legitimacy and entry into communities, it is critical to work closely with MOH, Church and Village Chiefs

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Child Spacing Film  Developed and produced a culturally relevant two-part film  MOH and Church buy-in  Work with community stakeholders to schedule community viewing  Train local NGO team to show film conduct community conversation  Village-based community viewing with follow-up discussion

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL ‘Mai Ita Koko’ (Come lets try): CHW home visits

HEALTH ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL Thank you!