USAID launches $11.5m child health program
Staff Report

Islamabad—The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a grant of $11.5 million for implementing a three-year program on providing child health services in FATA to Save The Children, a US-based nongovernmental organization.
Beginning October 1, 2006, the program will deliver a health package for FATA children up to the age of 5, covering immunization and treatment for lung infection, diarrhea, newborn care and nutrition.
The package will also strengthen the Agency Headquarter Hospitals (AHQH) and Agency Health Management Teams (AHMT) that are working to achieve quick and visible improvements. The program's challenge will be to foster public support for further improvements in the region's health system.
The main purpose of the USAID-funded program is to increase community acceptance of principles and practices essential to the health of the region's children. It is targeting an estimated 1,512,00 women of reproductive age in FATA with activities to raise awareness of the importance of hygiene, nutrition, neo-natal care and other preventive measures for common ailments remain abysmally low among the locals.
The FATA Child Health Support Program is part of the $3 billion in aid that the U.S. Government will provide to Pakistan over the next five years to improve education, health, governance, economic growth and security.