CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, October 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Abt Associates to Lead Group of Firms to Strengthen Governance and 
Sustainable Health Reform

Abt Associates announced it has been awarded the largest contract in its
history, the Partnership for Transforming Health Systems2 (PATHS2), by the
U.K. Department for International Development. The US$250 million, 6-year
contract calls for Abt Associates to lead a group of organizations in
reforming and strengthening the health system in up to six states besides
supporting the Federal Ministry of Health in transforming health services in
Nigeria. PATHS2 represents a major development effort by DFID that seeks to
enhance the long-term impact of aid investment by requiring alignment among
companies and projects, country ownership of development policies and
strategies, and stronger accountability mechanisms. The design of PATHS2
attempts to address problems such as fragmented and poorly coordinated donor
approaches that reduce the effectiveness of health support. A formal
announcement and launch of the project in Nigeria by DFID will take place in
the near future.

The contract calls for Abt Associates and its partners to improve the
financing, management, and delivery of sustainable health services in
Nigeria. The five PATHS2 program outputs include:

-- Strengthened stewardship role for health at the national level
    -- Improved systems to support the delivery of public health in lead
       states
    -- Improved delivery of pro-poor preventive and curative services,
       including affordable drugs
    -- Increased public awareness of entitlement and demand for quality
       healthcare
    -- Enhanced capacity of citizens to prevent and manage priority health
       conditions themselves



With half of Nigeria's 140 million citizens living in poverty,
development and health challenges are numerous. While the PATHS program has
demonstrated that service delivery and utilization can be improved through
policy reforms and capacity building interventions, these achievements will
not be sustained unless overall governance of the health sector, and related
sectors, is improved.

The approach of the Abt Associates-led team will be to focus on:
improving governance, by changing systems and processes that affect the
manner in which key political and bureaucratic institutions operate;
catalyzing partnerships among public, private, and community stakeholders
that will propel change; and creating synergies across the five PATHS2
outputs and DFID's other health programs.

"PATHS2 is primarily a health governance program. Champions of change at
all levels are critical in the creation of a social contract between
governments, public and private providers and civil society to build
sustainable, pro-poor structural and institutional health reforms," said
Pamela Rao, Abt Associates' PATHS2 Project Director. "Our objective is to
bring about systemic change that will directly contribute to Nigeria's
ability to use its own resources efficiently and effectively to meet health
related Millennium Development Goals. We think this is an excellent
opportunity to implement a new approach to development, one that improves aid
effectiveness in keeping with the goals of the Paris Declaration to improve
donor coordination and harmonization."

Abt Associates partners represent a highly experienced group of
organizations with demonstrated technical depth, local expertise and strong
management. Partners include: Axios Foundation, Christian Health Association
of Nigeria (CHAN), Federation of Muslim Women's Associations of Nigeria
(FOMWAN), John Snow Incorporated (JSI), London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine (LSHTM), Options Consultancy Services, and YozuMannion Limited/New
Media Network.

Abt Associates is a recognized leader in health systems strengthening and
the oversight of large complex international development projects. The
company applies scientific research, technical assistance and consulting
expertise to a wide range of social, economic and health policy issues;
international development; clinical trials and registries; and complex
business problems. Founded in 1965, the company provides services to U.S.
federal, state and local governments; foreign governments; universities and
foundations; media; and major corporations. Its staff of over 1,000 is
located in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; Bethesda, Maryland;
Durham, North Carolina; Lexington, Massachusetts (Abt Bio-Pharma Solutions,
Inc.); New York, New York (Abt SRBI); and in Africa, Asia, Central Asia,
Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Web site: http://www.abtassociates.com