Support to efforts to expand access to family planning (FP) in the DRC

The AcQual Project “Improving Access and Quality of Family Planning Services” tested an innovative approach involving nursing students to provide community-based distribution of family planning services (Approche Apprenants Distributeurs à base communautaire). This was carried out in alignment with ongoing reforms on utilizing a competence-based training within the nursing school program. ExpandNet member Dr. Alexis Ntabona facilitated the efforts to scale up this approach, under the leadership of the 6th Directorate of the Ministry of Health. Results from a recent monitoring exercise assessing the progress indicate that the initiative is widely accepted and supported by all stakeholders, including the nursing schools’ management teams, teachers, students’ parent associations, and family planning clients. However, the results show that the intervention requires mid-course corrections to consolidate its integration within the nursing school system.