Pacific Regional Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Unmet need for sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning in the Pacific is among the highest in the world. We use our expertise in sexual and reproductive health services in Australia to strengthen Pacific Island health systems by building the capacity of non-government organisations and government services. We provide customised capacity building to nurses, doctors and community workers to enable them to address local areas of reproductive and sexual health need.

Our regional programme has reached 56,000 people in 10 Pacific countries and trained over 12,000 clinicians and community workers since 2010.

Family Planning Basics Course

To build the capacity of health educators and improve access to sexual and reproductive health services, we have designed an activity-based education program using a training-of-trainers model. The program has a human rights base with a focus on sexual and reproductive health topics, gender, sexual and gender based violence, rights of children, and child safety. This program includes classroom based training, integrating a new online learning tool for one subject, and follow-up workplace coaching. This program is also disability inclusive and there is a specific module on the rights and needs of people with disability.

Countries

• Vanuatu
• Samoa
• Papua New Guinea

Achievements:

• 60 community-based workers trained

LARC Clinical Training

Our Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARC) Clinical Training package includes modules that can be adapted to different types of training including:

• Communication and counselling skills and history taking
• Contraceptives overview – types of contraception, understanding Medical Eligibility Criteria (MEC) , barrier methods, contraceptive pills, emergency contraception
• Theory based learning on LARCs including injectables, implants and intrauterine devices
• Clinical training on different LARC methods
• Train-the-trainer modules also available

Countries

• Participants from Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Samoa have received training through this course

Achievements:

• 25 clinicians across the Pacific upskilled in various LARC methods
• Contraception counselling in the Pacific has been improved through these courses