Maternal and child-health indicators have remained poor in northern India, with various factors contributing to the continued mortality and morbidity. Communication strategies play a powerful role in addressing the barriers to, and shaping demand for, the adoption of preventive health practices.
These two volumes, covering UP and Bihar respectively, provide valuable information on family dynamics that could be used to develop a comprehensive behavior change communication (BCC) strategy on family health in northern India. The study focuses on increasing the adoption of eight family-health behaviors that have a significant bearing on Millennium Development Goals.
Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and conducted by experts in the field, it is perhaps for the first time that a BCC study has been designed on such a comprehensive scale, based on evidence generated from large, formative studies to identify the barriers and factors facilitating the adoption of family-health behaviors. Unlike most BCC studies that are based on cognitive theories of behavior change, this study, which integrates the broader social context, media choices, program structure, and audience interaction that influence the target behaviors, will be a valuable and timely resource for policy makers, program implementers, researchers, and field-level persons alike.
M E Khan, Ph.D., is Senior Program Associate at Population Council, Delhi, India, and the lead person for reproductive health research. He has over 35 years of research experience with expertise in undertaking operations research to improve service delivery in maternal and child care, family planning, safe motherhood, and abortion. Scaling up of successful interventions and capacity building of young professionals are his other passions. Earlier, as Regional Director, Asia and Near East Counties, of FRONTIERS Program of Population Council, he has worked in many countries. Before joining Population Council in 1990, he was General Manager of Operations Research Group, New Delhi, India. He is member of various national and international committees, including committees of the World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, and has served as the chairperson of WHO committee on Gender Sensitive Intervention, and is currently chairperson of Sexual Violence Research Initiative. He has written and edited 13 books and published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Usha Kiran Tarigopula works as the Deputy Director, Global Health Program, at the India Country Office of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in New Delhi. Usha leads the foundation’s state-based programs in India with focus on Bihar and UP, and supports a number of Gates Foundation–backed efforts under the global health and synergies between global health and global development agenda. With a Master’s degree in Foods and Nutrition, Usha has 20 years of management and leadership experience with large health and development programs in India. Earlier, she worked with Care India as Senior Program Director for the Reproductive and Child Health, Nutrition and HIV/AIDS Program that was implemented in multiple states with high incidence of disease. She has worked closely with the Indian public health programs including the National Rural Health Mission and a range of civil society, national and international academic, and research and training institutions.
Deepika Ganju is Senior Program Officer with the Population Council’s HIV and AIDS Program in India. Prior to this, she was with the Council’s Reproductive Health Program. Before joining the Council, Deepika was an independent consultant working on areas of health and social development, in issues concerning youth, reproductive and sexual health, poverty alleviation, and water and sanitation. She has documented and conducted research on these issues and has also been associated as a writer and technical editor with the publication of books, journal articles, policy briefs, program advisory notes, newsletters, and field notes on these issues.
France Donnay, MD, FACOG, FRCOG, MPH, is the Strategic Program Lead for Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, USA. She joined the foundation in 2008. Dr Donnay practiced obstetrics and gynecology in public and private hospitals as well as family planning clinics in Brussels for 15 years. Often she also worked as a consultant to the WHO, World Bank, and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). As a maternal and child health (MCH) specialist with Doctors without Borders, she practiced in places such as Chad and Cambodia. She was Visiting Professor at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. In 1994, Dr Donnay joined UNICEF and worked on safe motherhood policies and programs. She transferred to UNFPA in 1999, where she was in charge of reproductive health technical support at its headquarters from 1999 to 2005, before leading the UNFPA office in Pakistan from 2005 to 2008.
