UNFPA Office in Ukraine, supported by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and USAID program "Healthy Women of Ukraine”, organized a one-day regional seminar - workshop in Poltava city on "Building partnership for better family planning services and accessible contraceptives".

The event was attended by representatives of Poltava, Kharkiv, Cherkasy and Kirovohrad regional state administrations and councils, medical professionals and social workers responsible for policy development, funding and implementation of regional programs on reproductive health, as well as the private sector and civil society representatives from these regions.

During the seminar, the participants discussed the approaches to building up a broader understanding and public consensus in Ukraine about key socio-economic benefits of modern family planning for improvement of the women and children health.

UNFPA experts presented a model of total market approach (TMA) based on the idea of partnership between government, private sector and NGOs.

This approach envisages that the public sector and nonprofit organizations undertake the responsibility to financially support the family planning services for the poor, socially vulnerable and underprivileged groups. At the same time, financially capable groups will continue to enjoy goods provided by the traditional market of contraceptives, contributing to its further efficient development.

As the result of the workshop, participants developed recommendations for regional strategies aimed at implementation of the total market approach into the family planning services to ensure the best public availability.