Program for Advancement of Commercial Technology (PACT-CRH) Celebrates the End of a Successful Project

On December 12, 2007 the Abt Associates-led PSP-One project held the End of Project Conference for the Program for Advancement of Commercial Technology – Child and Reproductive Health (PACT-CRH), which ended on July 31, 2007. PACT-CRH was a bilateral project between the Government of India (GOI) and USAID whose implementing partners included ICICI Bank with technical assistance provided by HealthTech, SOMARC, CMS, and subsequently, PSP-One. Over the past 12 years, the program helped evolve some of the most significant and innovative private sector partnerships in public health in the areas of technology development and introduction as well as market growth and promotion for reproductive health, maternal and child health, and HIV/AIDS initiatives.

PSP-One organized the End of Project Conference to share some of the program innovations with a broader audience, disseminate lessons learned and successes of the program strategies, and discuss new opportunities for private sector engagement for accelerating public health outcomes. The conference brought together attendees and presenters from across a wide spectrum to discuss private sector contributions to public health initiatives, including representatives from the Acumen Fund, Microsoft, Hindustan Unilever Limited, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, JK Ansell Limited, FDC Limited, and SGPGI. Some of the key accomplishments of the project include:

• Increased private industry investment e.g. low dose oral contraceptive pills (OCPs); rapid diagnostics
• Improved quality standards of key reproductive child health (RCH) products through transfer of manufacturing technologies/improved standards e.g. condoms, oral rehydration salts (ORS) and intrauterine devices (IUDs)
• Increased production capacity for condoms & IUDs
• Commercialization of 10 technologies such as:
• Rapid diagnostics product technologies for malaria, syphilis, HIV/AIDS, Hep-B and pregnancy
• Vaccine Vial Monitors
• Uniject
• Sustained engagement of industry, provider networks and innovative partners

Through the PACT-CRH project, PSP-One provided technical assistance in the development and implementation of behavior change communication campaigns, such as the “Condom, Bindaas Bol” campaign, which won 7 prestigious awards. PSP-One also provided research and strategic planning assistance, day to day oversight of advertising and public relations firms, built partnerships with the commercial sector, and through its Hamjoli field team, supported provider training and detailing to 25,000 pharmacies and 20,000 doctors and on-ground consumer promotion activities for the promotion of WHO-ORS and the introduction and promotion of Zinc for childhood diarrhea management.