Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

Programs

Suraj

last updated Oct 31, 2012

Overview

Implementing organization: 
Marie Stopes International
Legal Status: 
Year Launched: 
2008
Stage: 
Existing/expansion stage
Income Level of Target Population: 
Bottom 20%, 20-60% (lower to lower-middle)

Funding

Primary Source of Funding: 
Out-of-pocket payments
Additional Source(s) of Funding: 
Donor
Funders: 

Technology

Technology Used: 
Phones › Voice
Technology Purpose: 
Extending Geographic Access

Scale

Personnel Employed: 
100<
Number of Clients Served: 
77,736 (15-25,000 catchment area per clinic)
Number of Facilities Operated/Networked: 
200 outlets
Other Measures of Scale: 
Nearly 106,943 IUDs inserted (from inception to 2012)
Summary: 

Marie Stopes Society’s Private Provider Partnership, known as Suraj (an Urdu word meaning ‘sun’) aims to increase demand, access, and choices and provide improved quality services for Family Planning and Reproductive Health for underserved and poor communities through building an integrated network of service delivery outlets.

Key program components: 

In each intervention district, MSS has established a center for provision of reproductive health services. Within a radius of 10 km of the MSS center, community based distribution (CBD) field workers conduct door-to-door visits to provide counseling, distribute contraceptives, and make referrals for clinical services to MSS centers for injectables and IUCDs. The referrals include referrals for vouchers to clients who qualify for them based on a poverty assessment tool used by MSS. In the areas beyond the 10 km radius of the MSS centers, where access to qualified and trained health providers is severely limited, the private providers provide services to clients.

There are currently 100 providers operating in 18 districts in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab. In 2009, a total of 77,736 clients have been served, with an average of 777 clients per outlet.

The Suraj private providers are trained and accredited by MSS and provide family planning services to clients referred to them by the field workers marketing referral vouchers. The field worker marketing conducts door-to-door visits to market the Suraj brand and services, mobilizes the community, generates referrals and distributes vouchers to potential clients. In 2010, 29% of the total 53,601 IUCDs clients were served through the free Output Based Aid Voucher Scheme.

The partially franchised facilities provide basic family planning services under the Suraj logo, namely, supply of birth control pills and condoms, administration of injectable contraceptives, and insertion and removal of IUCDs (Inter-Uterine Contraceptive Device).

Beginning in November 2012, Suraj is planning a push to add an 300 new clinics to its franchise.

Program history: 

MSS launched Suraj, a private provider fractional social franchising initiative, as a pilot project from 2008-2012. This initiative is one of the main components of the organization’s National Expansion Project and is a partnership between MSS and private local health service providers in rural areas.

Additional Information

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BMCWomensHealth.pdf163.86 KB

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