MSH Awarded Salud Mesoamérica 2015 Initiative
MSH Awarded Salud Mesoamérica 2015 Initiative
Arlington, VA—July 3, 2013—Management Sciences for Health (MSH) has been awarded the contract for “Technical Assistance in Service Delivery and Management Capacity Building for the Salud Mesoamérica 2015 Initiative Countries,” a $9.3 million, 18-month award by the Inter-American Development Bank. The goal of the Salud Mesoamérica 2015 Initiative (“salud” is Spanish for health) is to reduce health equity gaps in eight countries in the Mesoamérica region.
Under the Salud Mesoamérica 2015 Initiative, MSH will provide ongoing technical assistance in seven of the eight countries to improve the quality of, access to, and use of health services at the primary and secondary levels of care for the poorest 20% of the population. The countries are: Chiapas-Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. MSH’s technical assistance will focus on expanding essential obstetric and neonatal care, newborn and child health, family planning services, assuring quality in those services, monitoring and use of health information system data for decision-making, and results-based financing models.
Salud Mesoamérica 2015 Initiative is an innovative public/private partnership which seeks to reduce health equity gaps faced by those living in extreme poverty in Mesoamérica. The initiative’s goal is to support Mesoamérican governments in reaching the health Millennium Development Goals through investments in projects with proven effectiveness. It is funded by the Carlos Slim Health Institute; the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID); the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and the eight beneficiary countries. The Inter-American Development Bank administers the project on behalf of the donors.
MSH’s core partners include Family Care International (FCI) and Grupo Consultor de Infraestructuras, S.A. (GCI). The project will run through November, 2014.
“This is a great opportunity for MSH and partners to work together to advance more equitable access to quality health services in the Mesoamérica region, ultimately improving the health and well-being of the men, women and children in those countries,” said Barry Smith, MSH’s Project Director for the Salud Mesoamérica 2015 Initiative.