The Kanchanpur Child Survival Project aims to improve maternal and newborn care in the distmalnutrition, diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria. The project works to increase people’s access to services and supplies,rict, reduce the number of children suffering from strengthen local health institutions, improve the quality of care, and change the health related behaviour of the mothers and other caretakers.

The project covers the entire district population but focuses on the most disadvantaged groups, such as landless Tharu people, bonded labourers (Kamaiya), and the Dalits. To generate lasting behaviour change, the project educates individuals and households to make informed decisions about health care and practices.

To increase sustainable access to health education, quality care and essential medicines, the project trains more local women to act as Female Community Health Workers, and builds the skills and knowledge of government health workers, private health care providers, pharmacists, and the traditional healers. It works with local government and the District Public Health Office to develop the best strategy.

The project strengthens the capacity of district and community institutions to sustain support for child survival activities. The project is also studying new approaches such as “community birthing centres” and positive ways that encourage people to address maternal and child malnutrition

Project Goal: to reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality in Kanchanpur district

Project Objectives:
Behavioral: Caregivers of children below five years of age, particularly mothers, will be practicing healthy behaviors and seeking medical care from trained sources when needed.
Increased access to services and supplies: Families will have increased sustainable access to health education, quality care and essential medicines.
Institutional: Local and community-based institutions and local NGOs with capacity to support child survival activities on a sustainable basis will be developed or strengthened.
Quality of Care: MOH personnel, FCHVs, TBAs and other service providers will be practicing appropriate case management of diarrhea, pneumonia, malnutrition, and maternal and newborn care.

Key interventions:
· breastfeeding/nutrition,
· control of diarrheal disease,
· pneumonia case management,
· maternal and newborn care and
· control of malaria.

The project have focus on training of DPHO staff, Health Post/Sub Health Posts staff (Village Health Workers, Maternal Child Health Workers), Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) and Traditional Birth Attendants, mothers/caretakers on nutrition, identification and treatment of pneumonia, diarrheal and malaria, good maternal health practices and preventive measures. CARE also works with DPHO Health Post Management Committees or Sub Health Post Management Committees and VDCs to develop the best sustainable drug supply system.

Project Strategies

The project has the following four major strategies:
Generating community demand: Awareness creation at community and household levels including key decision-makers

Improving access and availability of health services: Recruiting, training and mobilizing Female Community Health Volunteers (including training of additional Female Community Health Volunteers), capacity building of private health providers, pharmacists, and traditional healers.

Improving quality of health services: Quality assurance training for health facility staff, health facility assessments, capacity building of health facility stafff, volunteers and private health care providers, Health post and Sub Health Post Management Committees.

Strengthening sustainablity: Identifying and developing the capacity of local institutions (at village, ward, VDC and district level) to implement and sustain the activities, systems and structures.