Saumya RamaRao, Ph.D.
Senior Associate
Saumya RamaRao is a senior associate at the Population Council. An economic demographer by training, her research spans many reproductive health issues from safe motherhood, abortion and postabortion care, and family planning to quality of care and health systems strengthening. She has conducted economic analysis, including costs and effects of programs offering family planning, reproductive tract infections treatment, and services for youth. She provides technical assistance and support to the monitoring and evaluation of reproductive health programs in several countries where the Council has ongoing activities. Her current research emphases are in measuring the integration of reproductive health services, the quality of abortion and postabortion care services, and health systems strengthening through better collection of service data. She has an abiding interest in capacity building.
She works closely with many different constituents, including researchers, Ministry of Health officials, NGOs, service providers, multilateral organizations, and donors. Countries where she has worked include Ghana, India, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia.
RamaRao is the chair of the Council’s Fred H. Bixby Fellowship Program, a capacity-building program for young developing-country specialists to conduct research with an experienced mentor at any one of the Council’s offices. She is also a member of the Council’s Institutional Review Board providing ethical oversight to institutionally developed projects.
RamaRao joined the Council in 1994 in New Delhi and subsequently moved to the New York office in 1997. Prior to joining the Council, RamaRao taught and conducted research at the International Institute for Population Sciences in Bombay, India. She received a master’s in econometrics from the University of Madras, India (1984) and a Ph.D. in economics with specialization in demography from the University of Southern California (1990).
She is affiliated with the Reproductive Health program at the Population Council.
Saumya RamaRao, Ph.D.
Senior Associate
Assessing the Acceptability of the Progesterone Vaginal Ring in Sub-Saharan Africa (more)
To expand contraceptive options for women in sub-Saharan Africa we are evaluating the acceptability of the progesterone vaginal ring, a user-controlled contraceptive method for lactating women, and exploring strategies for how to introduce the new technology.
(10/2011 - 9/2014)
Topics: Access to contraceptive methods; Family planning services; Maternal and newborn health; New and improved reproductive technologies; Postpartum family planning ; Technologies for women
Countries: Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal
Baby Monitor (more)
This mobile phone application, developed with partners at InSTEDD, takes clinical screening directly to women in the critical period before and after birth using interactive voice response technology to detect complications and take action.
(10/2011 - 9/2013)
Topics: Maternal and newborn health; Safe pregnancy, antenatal, and delivery care
Countries: Kenya
Provider Beliefs, Attitudes, and Practices Concerning Emergency Contraception (more)
The Council is collaborating with national partners to review current access to emergency contraception (EC), particularly with respect to providers’ attitudes toward the method in India, Nigeria, and Senegal. The data generated will be used to develop a global advocacy strategy to improve provider support for EC access and to improve access within each country.
(1/2011 - 10/2013)
Topics: Access to contraceptive methods; Family planning services
Countries: India, Nigeria, Senegal
Responding to the Need for Family Planning through Expanded Contraceptive Choices and Program Services (RESPOND) (more)
Council researchers are providing technical assistance in the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of a project to advance the use of long-acting and permanent methods and other reproductive health and family planning services.
(6/2009 - 6/2013)
Topics: Access to contraceptive methods; Family planning services; Maternal and newborn health; Postpartum family planning ; Strengthening health systems
Countries: Bangladesh
Evaluation of the Replication of the Community Postabortion Care (COMMPAC) Model in Kenya (more)
The Council engaged in a replication of the COMMPAC model in Kenya's Rift Valley Province to increase access to postabortion care services by enhancing knowledge of sources of care and reducing fear of stigma, dissatisfaction with provider attitudes and performance, cost of services, and other barriers to care.
(8/2009 - 6/2010)
Topics: Safe abortion and postabortion care
Countries: Kenya
Measuring and Evaluating the Integration of Family Planning and Other Reproductive Health Services Through Innovative Data Collection Instruments and Methodologies (more)
Researchers with the Council’s FRONTIERS program examined the challenges of scaling up projects using operations research.
(8/2007 - 3/2008)
Topics: Integrating health services; Monitoring and evaluation; Quality of care
Countries: Interregional
Assessing Management Sciences for Health's Postabortion Care Decentralization Program (more)
Council researchers with the FRONTIERS program assessed the successful introduction of postabortion care in Senegal by the Ministry of Health.
(9/2006 - 1/2007)
Topics: Monitoring and evaluation; Safe abortion and postabortion care
Countries: Senegal
Evaluation of the Integrated Strategy to Reduce Maternal and Neonatal Mortality in Senegal (more)
Council researchers investigated the integrated introduction of active management of the third stage of labor and essential newborn care in five regions in Senegal.
(9/2007 - 10/2007)
Topics: Newborn/infant health; Postpartum maternal care; Safe pregnancy, antenatal, and delivery care
Countries: Senegal
Saumya RamaRao, Ph.D.
Senior Associate
Approaches that will yield greater success when implementing self-administered electronic data capture ICT systems in the developing world with an illiterate or semi-literate population (PDF)Mierzwa,Stan; Souidi,Samir; Friedland,Irene; Littlefield,Sarah A.; Katzen,Lauren L.; Savel,Craig; Boccio,Deborah; RamaRao,Saumya
Publication date: 2013
Communities take action in Kenya: Strengthening postabortion care (PDF)
Undie,Chi-Chi; Obare,Francis; RamaRao,Saumya; Van Lith,Lynn
RESPOND Project Brief (no. 13)
Publication date: 2013
Mainstreaming emergency contraception in developing countries: A toolkit for policymakers and service providers (PDF)
Liambila,Wilson; RamaRao,Saumya; Maina,Joyce Wanderi; Gathitu,Mary W.
Publication date: 2013
Policy brief -- Mainstreaming emergency contraception in developing countries: A toolkit for policymakers and service providers (PDF)
Liambila,Wilson; RamaRao,Saumya; Maina,Joyce Wanderi; Gathitu,Mary W.
Publication date: 2013
Replication of the Community Mobilization for Postabortion Care (COMMPAC) model in Naivasha District, Rift Valley Province, Kenya: An evaluation report
(PDF)
Undie,Chi-Chi; Obare,Francis; RamaRao,Saumya
The RESPOND Project Study Series: Contributions to Global Knowledge, Report (no. 9)
Publication date: 2012
Attitudes, croyances et pratiques des leaders d'opinion clés (loc) et des prestataires sur la contraception d'urgence (CU) au Sénégal (PDF)
Mane,Babacar; RamaRao,Saumya; Brady,Martha; Bintou Mbow,Fatou; Thiam,Ababacar
Publication date: 2012
Country mapping: Kenya (PDF)
Obare,Francis; Liambila,Wilson; Birungi,Harriet; Itombra,Eseoise; Clark,Heather; RamaRao,Saumya
Progesterone Vaginal Ring Technical Report
Publication date: 2012
Country mapping: Nigeria (PDF)
Ishaku,Salisu Mohammed; RamaRao,Saumya
Progesterone Vaginal Ring Technical Report
Publication date: 2012
Country mapping: Senegal (PDF)
Mane,Babacar; Diop,Nafissatou; Termini,Nancy; RamaRao,Saumya; Clark,Heather
Progesterone Vaginal Ring Technical Report
Publication date: 2012
Evaluation of an intervention to improve quality of care in family planning programme in the Philippines (abstract) (HTML)
Jain,Anrudh K.; RamaRao,Saumya; Kim,Jacqueline; Costello,Marilou P.
Journal of Biosocial Science 44(1): 27-41
Publication date: 2012
Providers' and key opinion leaders' attitudes and practices regarding emergency contraception in Senegal: Key findings (PDF)
Mane,Babacar; Brady,Martha; RamaRao,Saumya; Bintou Mbow,Fatou
Program brief, February 2012
Publication date: 2012
Providers' and key opinion leaders' attitudes, beliefs, and practices concerning emergency contraception: A multicountry study in India, Nigeria, and Senegal (PDF)
Brady,Martha; Khan,M.E.; Ahonsi,Babatunde; Mane,Babacar; Askew,Ian; RamaRao,Saumya
Program brief, February 2012
Publication date: 2012
Motivations for entry into sex work and HIV risk among mobile female sex workers in India (abstract) (HTML)
Saggurti,Niranjan; Verma,Ravi K.; Halli,Shiva S.; Swain,Suvakanta N.; Singh,Rajendra; Reddy Modugu,Hanimi; RamaRao,Saumya; Mahapatra,Bidhubhusan; Jain,Anrudh K.
Journal of Biosocial Science 43(5): 535-554
Publication date: 2011
Postabortion care: Going to scale (HTML)
RamaRao,Saumya; Townsend,John W.; Diop,Nafissatou J.; Raifman,Sarah
International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 37(1): 40-44
Publication date: 2011
Community mobilization for postabortion care in Kenya: Baseline evaluation report (PDF)
Undie,Chi-Chi; RamaRao,Saumya
The RESPOND Project Study Series: Contributions to Global Knowledge, Report (no. 2)
Publication date: 2010
Emergency contraception: Idea to program (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Townsend,John W.; Raifman,Sarah
Brief
Publication date: 2010
The pregnancy cycle approach to safe motherhood (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Raifman,Sarah
Brief
Publication date: 2010
Manual for designing community based interventions for preventing postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) using misoprostol: Standardized pilot-test training manual (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Mekbib,Tekle-Ab; Raifman,Sarah
Publication date: 2009
Assessing Integration Methodology (AIM): A handbook for measuring and assessing the integration of family planning and other reproductive health services (PDF) (HTML)
Rivero-Fuentes,M.Estela; RamaRao,Saumya; Estrada,Ricardo; Warren,Charlotte; Mullick,Saiqa; Askew,Ian; Birungi,Harriet; Townsend,John W.; Medina,Susana
Publication date: 2008
Developing comprehensive and evidence-based policy and guidelines for antenatal and postnatal care in KwaZulu-Natal (PDF)
Ditlopo,Prudence; Menziwa,Mantshi; Mullick,Saiqa; RamaRao,Saumya; Dalton,Janet; Nyasulu,Dolly; Beksinska,Mags; Kunene,Busi
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2008
HIV risk behaviours among contracted and non-contracted male migrant workers in India: Potential role of labor contractors and contractual systems in HIV prevention (abstract) (HTML)
Saggurti,Niranjan; Verma,Ravi K.; Jain,Anrudh K.; RamaRao,Saumya; Kumar,Anil K.; Subbiah,Anjaneyalu; Reddy Modugu,Hanimi; Halli,Shiva S.; Bharat,Shalini
AIDS 22(suppl 5): S127-S136
Publication date: 2008
Migration/mobility and vulnerability to HIV among male migrant workers: Andhra Pradesh 2007-08 (PDF)
Saggurti,Niranjan; Jain,Anrudh K.; RamaRao,Saumya; Reddy Modugu,Hanimi; Singh,Ajay Kumar; Swain,Suvakanta N.; Verma,Ravi K.
Publication date: 2008
Migration/mobility and vulnerability to HIV among male migrant workers: Karnataka 2007-08 (PDF)
Halli,Shiva S.; Buzdugan,Raluca; Saggurti,Niranjan; Verma,Ravi K.; Moses,Stephen; Blanchard,James; Jain,Anrudh K.; RamaRao,Saumya; Singh,Ajay Kumar; Swain,Suvakanta N.
Publication date: 2008
Migration/mobility and vulnerability to HIV among male migrant workers: Maharashtra 2007-08 (PDF)
Kumar,K.Anil; Bharat,Shalini; Saggurti,Niranjan; Verma,Ravi K.; Jain,Anrudh K.; RamaRao,Saumya; Mukherjee,Kanchan; Singh,Ajay Kumar; Swain,Suvakanta N.
Publication date: 2008
Migration/mobility and vulnerability to HIV among male migrant workers: Tamil Nadu 2007-08 (PDF)
Subbiah,Anjaneyalu; Ramachandran,S.; Ravi Shankar,A.K.; Saggurti,Niranjan; Verma,Ravi K.; Jain,Anrudh K.; RamaRao,Saumya; Swain,Suvakanta N.; Singh,Ajay Kumar
Publication date: 2008
New vistas in contraceptive technology (abstract) (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Sitruk-Ware,Regine; Townsend,John W.
Gender and Development 16(2): 327-344
Publication date: 2008
Patterns and implications of male migration for HIV prevention strategies in Karnataka, India (PDF)
Saggurti,Niranjan; Verma,Ravi K.; Achyut,Pranita; RamaRao,Saumya; Jain,Anrudh K.
Technical Brief (no. 2)
Publication date: 2008
Patterns and implications of male migration for HIV prevention strategies in Maharashtra, India (PDF)
Saggurti,Niranjan; Verma,Ravi K.; Jain,Anrudh K.; Achyut,Pranita; RamaRao,Saumya
Technical Brief (no. 3)
Publication date: 2008
Patterns of migration/mobility and HIV risk among female sex workers: Andhra Pradesh 2007-08 (PDF)
Saggurti,Niranjan; Verma,Ravi K.; Reddy Modugu,Hanimi; RamaRao,Saumya; Singh,Ajay Kumar; Mahendra,Vaishali Sharma; Jain,Anrudh K.
Publication date: 2008
Patterns of migration/mobility and HIV risk among female sex workers: Karnataka 2007-08 (PDF)
Halli,Shiva S.; Buzdugan,Raluca; Verma,Ravi K.; Moses,Stephen; Blanchard,James; Jain,Anrudh K.; RamaRao,Saumya; Swain,Suvakanta N.; Saggurti,Niranjan
Publication date: 2008
Patterns of migration/mobility and HIV risk among female sex workers: Maharashtra 2007-08 (PDF)
Saggurti,Niranjan; Mahendra,Vaishali Sharma; Singh,Rajendra; RamaRao,Saumya; Swain,Suvakanta N.; Singh,Ajay Kumar; Jain,Anrudh K.; Verma,Ravi K.
Publication date: 2008
Patterns of migration/mobility and HIV risk among female sex workers: Tamil Nadu 2007-08 (PDF)
Saggurti,Niranjan; Verma,Ravi K.; Swain,Suvakanta N.; Reddy Modugu,Hanimi; Singh,Ajay Kumar; RamaRao,Saumya; Jain,Anrudh K.
Publication date: 2008
Profile of abortion seekers in Ghana and their decision-making processes (PDF)
Nyarko,Philomena; Adohinzin,Cletus; RamaRao,Saumya; Tapsoba,Placide; Ajayi,Ayorinde
Publication date: 2008
A question of ethics: Research and practice in reproductive health (abstract) (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Friedland,Barbara A.; Townsend,John W.
Studies in Family Planning 38(4): 229-241
Publication date: 2007
Assessing the feasibility, acceptability and cost of introducing postabortion care in health centres and dispensaries in rural Tanzania (PDF)
Wanjiru,Monica; Askew,Ian; Mungiita,Nzoya; RamaRao,Saumya; Homan,Rick; Kahando,Reheme; Pile,John M.
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2007
Assessment of the extension of postabortion care services in Senegal
RamaRao,Saumya; Ottolenghi,Emma; Niang Faye,Youmane; Diop,Nafissatou J.; Dieng,Thierno
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2007
Evaluation de l'Extension des services de soins apres avortement au Senegal
RamaRao,Saumya; Ottolenghi,Emma; Diop,Nafissatou J.; Niang Faye,Youmane; Diouf,Fatou Nar; Faye,Ousseynou; Dieng,Thierno
Publication date: 2007
Patterns and implications of male migration for HIV prevention strategies in Andhra Pradesh (PDF)
Verma,Ravi K.; Saggurti,Niranjan; Das,Madhumita; RamaRao,Saumya; Jain,Anrudh K.
Technical Brief (no. 1)
Publication date: 2007
Technical assistance to the Institute of Reproductive Health, Georgetown University in researching introduction strategies for the Standard Days contraceptive method (SDM) (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Foreit,James R.
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2007
Correlates of inter-birth intervals: Implications of optimal birth spacing strategies in Mozambique (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Townsend,John W.; Askew,Ian
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2006
Follow-up evaluation of intervention studies conducted by FRONTIERS
RamaRao,Saumya; Golon,Nathan
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2005
Introducing client-centered reproductive health services in a Pakistani setting (abstract) (PDF)
Sathar,Zeba A.; Jain,Anrudh K.; RamaRao,Saumya; ul Haque,Minhaj; Kim,Jacqueline
Studies in Family Planning 36(3): 221-234
Publication date: 2005
Improving the reproductive health of adolescents in Senegal (PDF)
Diop,Nafissatou J.; Bathidja,Heli; Toure,Isseu Diop; Dieng,Thierno; Mane,Babacar; RamaRao,Saumya; Adamchak,Susan E.; Wong,Emelita; Ndoye,Adama; Sy,Aboubacry; Fall,Babacar
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2004
Linking reproductive health to social power: Community health workers in Belize and Pakistan (PDF)
Galdos,Susana; Campbell,Lucella; Mohammed,Patricia; Rogow,Debbie; RamaRao,Saumya; Mir,Ali Mohammad; Haberland,Nicole
Quality/Calidad/Qualité (no. 15)
Publication date: 2004
Improving quality of care and use of contraceptives in Senegal (abstract) (HTML)
Sanogo,Diouratie; RamaRao,Saumya; Jones,Heidi E.; N'Diaye,Penda; M'bow,Bineta; Diop,Cheikh Bamba
African Journal of Reproductive Health 7(2): 57-73
Publication date: 2003
Serving the reproductive health needs of adolescents in Senegal: Analysis of costs
RamaRao,Saumya; Diop,Nafissatou J.
FRONTIERS Project Report
Publication date: 2003
The link between quality of care and contraceptive use (abstract) (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Lacuesta,Marlina; Costello,Marilou P.; Pangolibay,Blesilda; Jones,Heidi E.
International Family Planning Perspectives 29(2): 76-83
Publication date: 2003
The quality of family planning programs: Concepts, measurements, interventions, and effects (abstract) (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Mohanam,Raji
Studies in Family Planning 34(4): 227-248
Publication date: 2003
Dual needs: Contraceptive and sexually transmitted infection protection in Lusaka, Zambia (abstract) (PDF)
Chikamata,Davy M.; Chinganya,Oliver; Jones,Heidi E.; RamaRao,Saumya
International Family Planning Perspectives 28(2): 96-104
Publication date: 2002
Learning about clients' needs: Family planning field workers in the Philippines
Jain,Anrudh K.; RamaRao,Saumya; Costello,Marilou P.; Lacuesta,Marlina; Amoyen,Napoleon; Haberland,Nicole; Measham,Diana
from Responding to Cairo: Case Studies of Changing Practice in Reproductive Health and Family Planning, pp. 99-113
Publication date: 2002
A client-centered approach to family planning: The Davao Project (abstract) (PDF)
Costello,Marilou P.; Lacuesta,Marlina; RamaRao,Saumya; Jain,Anrudh K.
Studies in Family Planning 32(4): 302-314
Publication date: 2001
Safer maternal health in rural Uttar Pradesh: Do primary health services contribute? (abstract) (PDF) (HTML)
RamaRao,Saumya; Caleb-Varkey,Leila; Khan,M.E.; Townsend,John W.
Health Policy and Planning 16(3): 256-263
Publication date: 2001
Dual needs: Contraceptive and infection protection in Lusaka, Zambia
Chikamata,Davy M.; Chinganya,Oliver; Jones,Heidi E.; RamaRao,Saumya
Publication date: 2000
Reproductive health indicators: Moving forward (PDF)
Blanchard,Kelly; Elul,Batya; RamaRao,Saumya
Robert H. Ebert Program on Critical Issues in Reproductive Health Publication Series
Publication date: 1999
DMPA provision in PSS clinics in Uttar Pradesh: Costs and prices (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Townsend,John W.; Caleb-Varkey,Leila; Tiwari,Sudha; Vishwanath,Sneh; Singh,Harbans
Asia and Near East OR/TA Project Technical Paper 10
Publication date: 1997
Integrating RTI services in primary health care system: Observations from an operations research in Uttar Pradesh, India (PDF)
Khan,M.E.; RamaRao,Saumya; Gupta,R.B.; Patel,Bella C.; Caleb-Varkey,Leila; Tuladhar,Jayanti; Kumar,Sanjeev; Townsend,John W.
Asia and Near East OR/TA Project Special Report
Publication date: 1997
A model of costs of RTI case management services in Uttar Pradesh (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Townsend,John W.; Khan,M.E.
Asia and Near East OR/TA Project Technical Paper
Publication date: 1996
Rapid appraisal of IPP-VI training of ANMs in Uttar Pradesh (PDF)
Khan,M.E.; RamaRao,Saumya; Gupta,R.B.; Swaroop,Sulbha; Caleb-Varkey,Leila; Saxena,Anoop K.; Mishra,Anil
Asia and Near East OR/TA Project Special Report
Publication date: 1996
A model of costs of a CBD programme (PDF)
RamaRao,Saumya; Townsend,John W.; Khan,M.E.
Asia and Near East OR/TA Special Report
Publication date: 1995
Evidence from peninsular Malaysia of breastfeeding as a contraceptive method (abstract) (HTML)
RamaRao,Saumya
Studies in Family Planning 23(6): 376-385
Publication date: 1992
Saumya RamaRao, Ph.D.
Senior Associate
Integrated services: How do we measure and evaluate? (PDF)Poster presentation at the International Conference on Family Planning: Research and Best Practices, Kampala, 16 November
RamaRao,Saumya; Williams,Katherine; Rivero-Fuentes,M.Estela; Askew,Ian; Warren,Charlotte
Publication date: 2009
PAC services in Senegal (PDF)
Presentation at Moving Forward with Postabortion Care: Lessons Learned from Five Postabortion Care Focus Countries, Washington DC, 18-19 March
RamaRao,Saumya
Publication date: 2008
Evaluating client-provider interactions in reproductive health settings
Paper presented at the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population XXV International Population Conference, Tours, France, 18-23 July
RamaRao,Saumya; Kim,Jacqueline; Jain,Anrudh K.
Publication date: 2005
Contact
E-mail: sramarao@popcouncil.org
Address:
Saumya RamaRao
Population Council
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