Overview
Two children await their mother outside an antenatal care clinic in Bolivia. Photo: Freddy Tinajeros
The Population Council has operated in Bolivia since 1991 when it opened an office in La Paz to support implementation of activities under the USAID-funded operations research and technical assistance project in Latin America and the Caribbean (INOPAL).
Program focus
Population Council staff in Bolivia have concentrated on operations research and technical assistance to improve and expand reproductive health and family planning services. Activities have included the introduction of contraceptive methods, strengthening contraceptive-delivery systems within the national health system, and documenting the needs of particular groups, including indigenous people. Other aspects of the Council’s program have included research on sexually transmitted infections, particularly the prevention of neonatal syphilis, as well as postabortion care, adolescence, and quality of care. The Council is perceived as a major source of technical assistance by the Ministry of Health and by national NGOs providing health-care services.
At present, the Council’s work is focused around the Gestión y Calidad en Salud project, which is being implemented by a consortium led by John Snow, Inc., with the participation of the Population Council and CARE International. For this project, the Council expanded its programmatic approach to child and neonatal health and infectious diseases. Specifically, it is in charge of the development of operations research studies and the continuous quality-improvement program.
Highlights of past and present work
- Generated the evidence base and provided technical inputs that enabled the Ministry of Health to add postabortion care to the reproductive health services provided in public health facilities.
- Conducted a nationally representative acceptability and feasibility study of introducing rapid syphilis testing of pregnant women. The results prompted the Ministry of Health to include this testing within the country’s Maternal–Child Universal Insurance plan.
- Provided evidence that helped the Ministry of Health prepare a comprehensive plan for reducing sexually transmitted infections in Bolivia.
- Provided technical assistance to enable PROCOSI (the largest NGO providing health care services in Bolivia) to develop, test, and expand a strategy to incorporate gender perspectives in its sexual and reproductive health program.
- Provided technical assistance that enabled CIES (another large NGO) to develop and test a model to offer comprehensive health services to men. The model has been replicated in four large clinics in Bolivia.
Projects
Strengthening Clinical Services and Health Systems Management in Bolivia (more)
The purpose of the Health Management and Quality Project is to strengthen the public health system in order to improve service quality and coverage, especially in child health, maternal and neonatal health, and infectious diseases.
(5/2005 - 6/2010)
Maternal and newborn health; Strengthening health systems
Consolidating a Gender Perspective in the PROCOSI Network (more)
Council researchers with the FRONTIERS program collaborated with PROCOSI, a network of NGOs in Bolivia, to test the feasibility and costs of a system for certifying that its member organizations provide gender-sensitive reproductive health services.
(5/2005 - 4/2007)
Quality of care
Extending Operations Research to the Problems of Scale Up: Costs, Compliance, and Effectiveness of Systematic Screening (more)
Council researchers with the FRONTIERS program worked to combine support for scaling up systematic screening with research on specific aspects of the scaling-up process.
(9/2005 - 12/2007)
Quality of care; Scaling up interventions
Resources
Contraception and condom use among Bolivian female sex workers: Relationship-specific associations between disease prevention and family planning behaviors (abstract) (HTML)Yam,Eileen A.; Tinajeros,Freddy; Revollo,Rita; Richmond,Kara; Kerrigan,Deanna; Garcia,Sandra G.
Health Care for Women International 34(3-4): 249-262
Publication date: 2013
Assessing the effectiveness of a patient-driven partner notification strategy among pregnant women infected with syphilis in Bolivia (abstract) (HTML)
Diaz-Olavarrieta,Claudia; Valencia,Jorge; Wilson,Kate S.; Garcia,Sandra G.; Tinajeros,Freddy; Sanchez,Tahilin
Sexually Transmitted Infections 87(5): 415-419
Publication date: 2011
Fernando Gonzales Salguero: Improving health care coverage and responses to obstetric and neonatal emergencies in Bolivia (HTML)
Voices of Change
Publication date: 2010
Targeting violence against women in Bolivia and Vietnam (PDF)
Population Briefs 16(2)
Publication date: 2010
Adolescent experience in-depth: Using data to identify and reach the most vulnerable young people (HTML)
Series of 51 data guides by country
Publication date: 2009
Adolescent experience in-depth: Using data to identify and reach the most vulnerable young people--Bolivia 2003 (PDF) (HTML)
Publication date: 2009
The co-occurrence of intimate partner violence and syphilis among pregnant women in Bolivia (abstract) (HTML)
Diaz-Olavarrieta,Claudia; Wilson,Kate S.; Garcia,Sandra G.; Revollo,Rita; Richmond,Kara; Paz,Francisco; Chavez,Lorena
Journal of Women's Health 18(12): 2077-2086
Publication date: 2009
Bolivia: A gender focus in service delivery improves quality of care (PDF)
FRONTIERS OR Summary (no. 68)
Publication date: 2008
Bolivia: Marketing and economic analyses help NGOs develop strategies for sustainability (PDF)
FRONTIERS OR Summary (no. 61)
Publication date: 2007
Consolidating a gender perspective in the PROCOSI network (PDF)
de la Quintana,Erica Palenque; Riveros Hamel,Patricia; Vernon,Ricardo
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2007
Demonstrating public health at work: A demonstration project of congenital syphilis prevention efforts in Bolivia (abstract) (HTML)
Garcia,Sandra G.; Tinajeros,Freddy; Revollo,Rita; Yam,Eileen A.; Richmond,Kara; Diaz-Olavarrieta,Claudia; Grossman,Daniel
Sexually Transmitted Diseases 34(7): S37-S41
Publication date: 2007
Guías de referencia: Para instituciones y establecimientos de salud que buscan acreditar la calidad y enfoque de género de sus servicios (PDF)
Riveros Hamel,Patricia; Palenque,Erica; Vernon,Ricardo; Carreno,Ignacio
Publication date: 2007
Maternal syphilis and intimate partner violence in Bolivia: A gender-based analysis of implications for partner notification and universal screening (abstract) (HTML)
Diaz-Olavarrieta,Claudia; Garcia,Sandra G.; Seitchik Feldman,Becca; Martinez Polis,Alberto; Revollo,Rita; Tinajeros,Freddy; Grossman,Daniel
Sexually Transmitted Diseases 34(7): S42-S46
Publication date: 2007
Patient-led partner notification for syphilis: Strategies used by women accessing antenatal care in urban Bolivia (abstract) (HTML)
Klisch,Shannon A.; Mamary,Edward; Diaz-Olavarrieta,Claudia; Garcia,Sandra G.
Social Science and Medicine 65(6): 1124-1135
Publication date: 2007
Operations research to improve financial sustainability in three Bolivian NGOs (PDF)
Merida,Martha; Arce,Javier; Moscoso,Douglas; Ramirez,Carlo; Riveros,Patricia; Bratt,John H.
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2006
Systematic screening: A strategy for determining and meeting clients' reproductive health needs (PDF)
Foreit,James R.
FRONTIERS Program Brief (no. 6)
Publication date: 2006
Cross-cultural adaptation of reproductive health services in Bolivia (PDF)
Gonzales Salguero,Fernando; Martin,Antonieta; Perez Mendoza,Rosario; Vernon,Ricardo
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2005
Operations research to improve postabortion (PAC) services in three public hospitals, Bolivia (PDF)
Gonzales Salguero,Fernando; Loayza,Mariel
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2005
Technical assistance and training for PROCOSI operations research program, Bolivia (PDF)
Gonzales Salguero,Fernando; Vernon,Ricardo
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2005
Technical assistance and training for the CIES Operations Research Program, Bolivia
Gonzales Salguero,Fernando; Riveros,Patricia
Publication date: 2005
Use of systematic screening to increase the provision of reproductive health services in Bolivia (PDF)
Foreit,James R.; Vernon,Ricardo; Riveros Hamel,Patricia
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2005
Developing a supervision instrument for postabortion care in Guatemala, Bolivia and Mexico (PDF)
Brambila,Carlos
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2004
Effects and cost of implementing a gender-sensitive reproductive health program in Bolivia (PDF)
Palenque,Erica; Montano,Lizzy; Vernon,Ricardo; Gonzales Salguero,Fernando; Riveros,Patricia; Bratt,John H.
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2004
Evaluation of community education interventions in sexual and reproductive health services in urban-marginal areas of La Paz, Bolivia (PDF)
Castro Mantilla,Maria Dolores; Loayza,Mariel
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2004
Selected DHS data on 10-14-year-olds (HTML)
Annexes by country to Facts about Adolescents from the Demographic and Health Survey: Statistical Tables for Program Planning
Publication date: 2003
Selected DHS data on 10-14-year-olds: Bolivia (PDF) (HTML)
Annex to "Facts about adolescents from the Demographic and Health Survey: Statistical tables for program planning"
Publication date: 2003
Testing a model for the delivery of emergency obstetric care and family planning services in the Bolivian public health system (PDF)
Billings,Deborah L.; Del Pozo,Eliana; Arevalo,Hugo
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2003
Facts about adolescents from the Demographic and Health Survey: Statistical tables for program planning (HTML)
Series of DHS data tables by country
Publication date: 2001
Facts about adolescents from the Demographic and Health Survey--Statistical tables for program planning: Bolivia 1998 (PDF) (HTML)
Publication date: 2001
Improving the quality of services and contraceptive acceptance in the postabortion period in three public-sector hospitals in Bolivia (PDF)
Diaz,Juan; Loayza,Mariel; Torres de Yepez,Yamile; Lora,Oscar; Alvarez,Fernando; Camacho,Virginia; Huntington,Dale; Piet-Pelon,Nancy J.
from Postabortion Care: Lessons from Operations Research, pp. 61-79
Publication date: 1999
Bolivia Fast Facts
| Population (millions) | 10.8 |
|---|---|
| Total fertility rate | 3.3 |
| Infant deaths per 1,000 live births | 42 |
| Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births | 190 |
| Girls aged 20-24 married by age 18 (%) | 22 |
| HIV/AIDS prevalence (%) | 0.2 |
| Living below US $2 per day (%) | 25 |
Country statistics from Demographic and Health Surveys, 1987–2011; UNAIDS and UNICEF websites (accessed 10/22/2012); "World Population Data Sheet" (Population Reference Bureau, 2012) | |
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