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| A couple visits a clinic in India. |
| (c) David and Lucille Packard Foundation |
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Medical abortion (MA) offers great promise in India, where abortion has been legal for decades, but a lack of accurate information and access to services prevent many women from getting the care they need. Although MA could break down these barriers, many doctors and other health-care providers have not been trained in MA or its use.
The government of Madhya Pradesh, one of India’s largest states, has decided to reverse this trend. (MA is the use of drugs, usually a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, to terminate early pregnancy) With Ipas’s help, this state is using new drugs, and new technology, to save women’s lives. The government of Madhya Pradesh recently purchased MA drug kits for 48 districts to improve safe abortion choices for women who need it. The kits were distributed to providers previously trained by Ipas in abortion care.
With the kits now in hand, providers were due for a refresher course in MA service delivery. Ipas trainers faced the daunting task of reaching hundreds of providers scattered across the state. Because they had previously received substantial hands-on instruction in abortion care, trainers decided to try to connect with providers through video-conference technology. Conducting the course via video allowed providers to “attend” the training without traveling and drastically reduced costs. A participating provider was enthusiastic about the virtual training, saying “I did not have to travel and leave my family and workplace. Video meetings should be encouraged. I loved and enjoyed it.”
The video-conference trainings proved to be a great success, and about 300 providers participated in the refresher course. Participants were able to “meet” and ask questions of the Commissioner of Health who also participated via video. One of Ipas’s master trainers was very pleased with the whole experience, saying “it was really good and different. To see, hear and interact from miles apart was amazing.” Providers who were trained via Ipas’s new blended learning techniques can now begin providing MA services to women in their communities.
Excited by the outcome of the virtual training, the government of Madhya Pradesh requested that Ipas conduct a similar program for abortion-care trainees who are not providing services post training. Dr. Bhushan Srivastava, Deputy Director of Health and Family Welfare in Madhya Pradesh, says she hopes to use video conferencing to increase service delivery by reaching out to trained providers who are not performing services. The video-conference tool will provide a platform for interaction, allowing trainees to discuss the issues preventing them from offering abortion services, and trainers to provide them with solutions, information and resources.
For more information, contact media@ipas.org