Pathfinder International

📢 Happy Friday, global health champions! Looking for an inspiring weekend read? We've got you covered! Our very own Joram Sunguti Luke has been featured on All Africa, highlighting our community-centered approach to HIV programming. As we gear up for the weekend, this piece offers the perfect blend of insight and inspiration. 🔍 Friday Read Spotlight: "Communities Leading the Fight to End HIV" For decades, we at Pathfinder have championed a simple yet powerful truth: communities are the cornerstone of effective HIV responses. Our three-pronged strategy has proven time and again to be a game-changer: ✔️ Empowering communities through genuine partnerships ✔️ Tackling systemic barriers head-on ✔️ Embracing innovation and adaptability From Mozambique to Nigeria, we're seeing real-world impact that's transforming lives and strengthening communities. As we look towards Agenda 2030, this recognition couldn't be more timely. It's a reminder of how far we've come and the exciting journey ahead. It's not just a read - it's a glimpse into a future where communities lead the charge in ending HIV. Here's to a weekend of inspiration and to the incredible communities we serve! 📚 https://lnkd.in/e5qHmqQG #FridayReads #CommunityFirst #HIV2030 #GlobalHealth

Over the past two years, devastating floods in #Bangladesh have displaced thousands of people, and destroyed essential infrastructure like roads, bridges, and health facilities. More than 25% of the country has been ravaged by the worst flash-flooding of this century. The impact of these natural disasters is not gender neutral! Spikes in gender-based violence, limited access to reproductive and maternal healthcare, and ruined agricultural livelihoods all affect women and girls disproportionately. That’s why our program supported by Takeda puts women at the center of climate action! We engage project staff and a cadre of 500 resilience volunteers to lead “gender-transformative” trainings with healthcare providers, community groups, students, and teachers, ensuring climate adaptation addresses the unique situations of women and girls. This includes encouraging the voices of women in climate adaptation and society’s acceptance of their representation; ensuring the continuation of gender-based violence services in the aftermath of disasters; and better preparing women to weather disasters through access to climate-resilient livelihoods, menstrual hygiene management supplies, and essential healthcare. Unfortunately, we know our team in Bangladesh is not alone. Each week, we hear of natural disasters hitting hard in many of the countries where Pathfinder works. As world leaders head to #COP29 later this year, we urge investment in approaches like ours that put women at the center of climate action! #climateandhealth #climateaction #genderequality Pictured: Sakiba Begum, a community mobilizer, facilitates a courtyard session with a women's group in Sylhet District, Bangladesh.

At Pathfinder, we know #PrivateSectorPartnerships are a powerful way of increasing access to essential healthcare products and services. In #Uganda, connecting drug shops with nearby health facilities allowed for sustained, quality contraceptive services. Drug shops have proximity to communities and are a viable channel to reach underserved communities with contraception. In three districts, Pathfinder’s USAID Uganda Family Planning Activity trained 49 drug shops operators on counseling and provision of injectable contraceptives, referral for long acting and permanent methods, commodity security, infection prevention, waste management, record-keeping and reporting in ministry of health registers. This initiative has demonstrated that communities are willing to pay for services if they are available, affordable, and good quality. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eexPCfTY

Around the world, we apply locally led solutions to climate and health resilience, delivering crucial services to women and girls while helping communities adapt to the climate crisis. Through support from Takeda, Pathfinder leads a program assisting more than 500 health facilities in #Bangladesh with developing and activating disaster preparedness plans, and in #Pakistan, has engaged almost 1,000 women as climate champions. The program collaborates with women and their communities, local #NGOs, and government ministries to prepare health systems to serve through natural disasters, engage women in livelihoods and agricultural activities that can withstand extreme flooding and droughts, increase people’s awareness about the linkages between climate change and health, and provide critical reproductive health services to women, girls, and young people. #PrivateSectorPartnerships #ClimateandHealth Watch: https://lnkd.in/eWu89-ij

Pathfinder International, under the Frontier Health Markets (FHM) Engage project, has been conducting market analysis, building evidence to see through the vision that our technical guru and strategist Xaher Gul put into place - to see newer and expanded choice of methods available to people of Pakistan. Today, Pathfinder International Pakistan and Population Services International, Pakistan formalised a partnership to forge pathways for the expansion and availability of newer generation of oral contraceptive pills (OCPs).This partnership takes this vision forward, bringing in key private sector partners on table under the Impact Hub, stewarded by Ayesha Leghari and her team at PSI Pakistan. This picture captures a special moment. The formalisation of a partnership, while being surrounded by my incredible team, Ayesha Faheem - Jafri, Xaher Gul [you'll always be my team] and my mentor Yasmeen Qazi, who I would especially like to acknowledge for her leadership in the SRHR world. Thank you for always pushing innovation, partnership and collaboration to the forefront. Sonia Surani Rita Badiani Laila Gardezi, you all were there in spirit. The efforts, dedication, long nights, all have made a difference. As a Pathfinder, nothing is more important to us than seeing a world that has uninterrupted, non-discriminatory and full affordable choices available to them, when they want. Here is to moving forward together.

To increase the resilience of communities and improve health outcomes as climate-driven disasters intensify, climate change adaptation strategies need to be closely tailored to the specific contexts they are meant to serve. Through our Takeda-funded #ClimateandHealth program in Bangladesh, a focus of ours has been addressing the rise in snakebite victims caused by the increased frequency of severe floods. This may come as a surprise, but snakebites remain a leading cause of death in Bangladesh during flooding! We have trained 286 public health providers and supported 274 health facilities to improve readiness to treat snakebite victims. Across communities, our resilience volunteers are spreading the word about how to prevent and treat snakebites, as they provide linkages to essential health information and services and help women and their families adapt to the floods through climate-smart agricultural techniques and other local solutions.

From decades running programs for adolescents and youth, we know that young people’s perspectives must drive the solutions and innovations meant for them. In #Pakistan, Pathfinder is a partner on the USAID-funded Frontier Health Markets (FHM) Engage project, which seeks to make health markets responsive, equitable, resilient, and driven by consumer needs. FHM Engage conducted a comprehensive market analysis to develop context-specific solutions to barriers young people face when trying to access contraception and reproductive healthcare. This included forming a youth council to ensure solutions are “for the youth, by the youth.” The result is “BOLO Health,” a digital health marketplace developed through a #PrivateSectorPartnership with Oladoc, a digital aggregator in the health system. BOLO Health delivers tailored health services, information, and products to young people online. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eGmfCd_D Pictured: A member of the Youth Council explains BOLO Health at the launch event.

On World Sexual Health Day, we call attention to the millions of couples who struggle with #infertility. Reproductive health practitioners can learn how to help couples with fertility health from our Swasthneev (healthy foundation) program in #India. In six cities, we are repositioning #infertility from a taboo topic to one that is discussed openly. Through our #PublicPrivatePartnership with Indira IVF, the largest IVF clinic chain in India, this social impact program is reaching young couples to adopt healthy fertility practices early in their marriages. This includes encouraging healthy lifestyle changes and better nutrition, reducing stress, and working to eliminate substance abuse. The project improves couples’ communication and gender equity in relationships and across communities, and dispels myths and misconceptions related to fertility health. The project is reaching 15 million people through digital campaigns and building a cohort of community champions to sustain activities in the long-term. #PrivateSectorPartnerships Pictured: Shilpa Rani and Anjay Raj, who were reached by a Pathfinder program that encouraged healthy fertility decisions. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eGmfCd_D

Child marriage is a devastating practice that traps girls in a cycle of poverty, undermines their health and education, and exposes them to violence and exploitation. We’re committed to collaborating with communities, government agencies, and other stakeholders to create a future where every girl has the opportunity to reach her full potential. We're proud of our ongoing efforts in Pakistan, which include: • Empowering girls through education and life skills training. • Raising awareness about the negative impacts of child marriage. • Advocating for policy change to protect girls' rights. We are grateful for the recognition from National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC) and remain steadfast in our commitment to ending child marriage in Pakistan. Together, we can create a world where all children can thrive. #EndChildMarriage #GirlsEducation #PathfinderPakistan Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eK2pjazt

We ensure every person can make informed decisions about pregnancy and childbearing. In #Tanzania, our partnership with the private sector is critical to sustained availability of Mifepristone—a lifesaving drug for safe abortion and maternal health care. Pathfinder Tanzania identified a private-sector medical supplies importer, provided seed funds to support registration, and through effective advocacy, Mifepristone is now a registered drug in Tanzania. The private sector can now import Mifepristone and sell it to public and private hospitals through private-sector networks. Pathfinder and out partners continue to advocate for the drug’s inclusion in Tanzania’s national treatment guidelines and essential drug list, and ultimately, in the public health supply chain. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eGmfCd_D #PrivateSectorPartnerships