Background

The ACQUIRE Project is designed to meet the critical global challenges of the rising number of women of reproductive age who need family planning (FP) and reproductive health (RH) care.

More than 120 million women currently have an unmet need for FP services (IPPF).
The numbers of women of childbearing age living in developing countries is skyrocketing-this number is expected to rise to nearly 1.8 billion by 2015 (UN).
More couples than ever before will be seeking contraceptive services and RH care. The number of contraceptive users is projected to increase by 79% between 2000 and 2015 (Bulato & Ross).
Levels of maternal mortality continue to be high in low-resource countries; each year, as many as 600,000 women die from pregnancy-related complications (UNFPA). Maternal morbidity, including obstetric fistula, affects millions of women. The World Health Organization estimates 2 million girls and women are living with obstetric fistula, and an additional 50,000 to 100,000 are affected each year.
It is projected that 45 million HIV infections will occur in this decade (UNAIDS).

Men and women in the developing world face persistent barriers to the provision of quality RH/FP services. There are deficiencies in the quality of care due to weak leadership, lack of resources, and supply constraints. Already struggling to care for their clients, facility staff must also meet the increasing challenges posed by HIV and AIDS.

Efforts to solve these immense challenges rest on improving the quality of facility-based care. The ACQUIRE Project is working to advance and support facility-based RH/FP services by increasing clients' access to quality services, improving service providers' ability to offer such services, and strengthening the environment in which health care staff provide services.

The project involves a wide range of facilities at every level of the health care system, from sophisticated hospitals to single-room clinics, in the public, private, and nongovernmental sectors. ACQUIRE also aims to strengthen links between facilities and the communities they serve.

Sources:

Ross, J. A., and Winfrey, W. L. 2002. Unmet need for contraception in the developing world and the former Soviet Union: An updated estimate. Family Planning Perspectives 28(3)
United Nations. 2004. World population prospects: 2004 revision. New York.
Bulato, R., and Ross, J. 2001. Contraceptive projections and the donor gap: Meeting the challenge.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Photo credit: W. Jaskiewicz/EngenderHealth

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