Obstetrics and Gynaecology

STUDYING THE UTILISATION OF EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVE SERVICES THROUGH PARAMEDICS IN INDIA.

This is a collaborative project of ICMR HRRC, Department of Health Government of Maharashtra and Population Council.

Emergency contraception comprises of steps taken to avoid pregnancy after an unprotected intercourse.

Emergency Contraceptive pills are high dose progesterone (in this project 0.75 mg Levonorgestrel) which when given within 72 hrs of unprotected intercourse as first dose and second dose after 12 hrs, prevent conception.

Emergency Contraceptive pills (0.75 mg Levonorgestrel) are currently available in PHCs on Doctors' prescription. According to the Research hypothesis of the project this limits the accessibility and use of ECPill; the inclusion of paramedical staff in delivery of ECP will remove the obstacles which presently limit the access to ECPill.

Objectives:-

1. To compare the Quality and safety of ECS provided by Doctors and Paramedics.
2. To study the improvement in utilization of ECS when delivered through paramedics.
3. To study the training requirement of paramedical staff in providing ECS.

The project is being carried out in THANE DISTRICT:

Work done till date 4/10/05

1. Training of Medical Officers from Palghar and Shahapur on EC Services.
2. Training of Paramedics (102) from Palghar only.
3. Preparation and Distribution of Pamphlets, Posters, Flipbooks and Proformas to be filled by providers in Palghar and Shahapur.
4. Distribution of EC pills in Palghar and Shahapur.
5. Revisited intervention area to clear doubts by providers and to check the retention of knowledge of Emergency Contraception.

Work to be done

1. Enrolment of clients.
2. Follow up visits to acceptors (200 from each intervention area, 100 provided by Doctors 100 provided by Paramedics).
3. Data collection and Monitoring.
4. Report writing and Dissemination of Results.