AFP Expands Advocacy Initiative to Include PATH

Advance Family Planning (AFP) is expanding its initiative to include PATH, an international, nonprofit global health organization based in Seattle. PATH will support AFP to develop and implement “training of facilitators” workshops for its partners and help track diffusion and uptake of AFP’s SMART advocacy approach.

AFP and PATH first joined efforts for the Increasing Access to Next Generation Injectables meeting held in Dakar, Senegal in February 2017. Along with IntraHealth, PATH and AFP convened 150 researchers, health professionals, advocates, and donors from 19 countries to strategize how best to introduce and scale up access to subcutaneous depo provera via Uniject, also known as DMPA-SC or Sayana® Press.

As part of the new partnership, PATH will continue to provide follow-up support for the meeting. In addition, PATH will help contribute to and monitor AFP’s efforts to help international and local NGOs accelerate advocacy activities on a global scale.

“We are very excited to have PATH as a partner,” said Duff Gillespie, Principal Investigator for AFP. “PATH has a very strong and extensive advocacy program and knows the challenges advocates face. Their expertise in virtually all aspects of global health, from product development to service delivery, will greatly increase the capacity of the AFP family’s ability to have a global impact.”

Carolyn Reynolds, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at PATH, also expressed excitement for the new partnership. “AFP is a leader in the field of family planning advocacy, and PATH is looking forward to partnering with AFP to strengthen the advocacy leadership skills of family planning champions to shape policies and programs that will improve access and choice. This is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the value of advocacy in transforming the lives of women and girls.”

About Advance Family Planning

Advance Family Planning aims to increase financial investment and political commitment needed to ensure access to quality family planning through evidence-based advocacy. Based in the Population, Family and Reproductive Health Department of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, AFP works to achieve the goals of the Family Planning 2020 initiative: to enable women and girls in some of the world's poorest countries to use contraceptive information, services and supplies, without coercion or discrimination. AFP is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

About PATH

PATH is the leader in global health innovation. An international nonprofit organization, PATH saves lives and improves health, especially among women and children. Accelerating innovation across five platforms—vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, devices, and system and service innovations—PATH harnesses its entrepreneurial insight, scientific and public health expertise, and passion for health equity. By mobilizing partners around the world, PATH takes innovation to scale, working alongside countries primarily in Africa and Asia to tackle their greatest health needs. With these key partners, PATH delivers measurable results that disrupt the cycle of poor health.