Reproductive Health/HIV-AIDS programme with Marie Stopes International in Vietnam and China
The project's beginnings
In 2003, we reported on our developing partnership with the international health care provider Marie Stopes International (MSI). Based on the research and survey work that was conducted at supplier factories in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2004, a broad-scale project aimed at addressing the fundamental sexual and reproductive health of workers was developed.
As a result, in 2005, the implementation phase of the Vietnam programme started, with the establishment of a permanent reproductive health clinic to serve workers and the surrounding communities. Since then, a mobile team has been travelling out from the clinic to the factories to provide a range of services including training factory clinic staff, basic reproductive clinical services, distribution of information and educational materials, and direct training of volunteer workers as peer-group leaders.
The project in 2007
In 2007, both the permanent community clinic and the mobile clinical services have grown in size and reputation. Both are operating to their full capacity, with workers from adidas Group suppliers and members of the general community making full use of the range of services. At the same time, regular meetings have been held with supplier management, government health officials and other local health service providers with the aim of ensuring that the activities continue once the formal project comes to an end in early 2009. This outreach has also increased and improved the rate of cross-referrals between the MSI clinic and other clinics, hospitals and pharmacies in the greater Ho Chi Minh City area.
Looking ahead
In terms of the ongoing sustainability of the project, the permanent clinic shall be completely self-sufficient by the end of 2008. All adidas Group suppliers in Vietnam are now reviewing the critical needs of their workers and those aspects of the programme, such as peer education and mobile services, they wish to continue with into 2009 and beyond. The feedback has been excellent with all key existing suppliers working on tailor-made packages for their facilities and creating a budget line for this. Some suppliers are looking at how to support the establishment of new MSI clinics adjacent to their factories; and MSI has begun to promote the programme and its services to a wider range of suppliers outside the adidas Group. Clinic services, operating times and information will be posted in those new factories and workers will be encouraged to visit the permanent clinic.
Independent evaluation
Lastly, MSI and factory management welcome a third-party evaluation of the programme that will be conducted in the first part of 2008. These results will be fed back into the individual factory plans being made with MSI, as well as being used for an overall review of the partnership between the adidas Group and MSI, as we consider the next steps in this type of community involvement.
MSI China programme
In 2004, the Chinese authorities fully acknowledged the growing impact of HIV/AIDS. Given the growing support for programmes that address the mounting health risks for China's urban workforce, the MSI China programme will identify the best methods for protecting workers against this disease and poor reproductive health in general. Underpinning the programme is the concept of personal responsibility.
At relatively minimal cost to factory management, a significant number of workers can effectively be taught how to protect themselves and improve their overall health and well-being.
From workshop to proposal
During the course of 2005, MSI was heavily involved in the roll-out of several critical projects relating to HIV/AIDS in Yunnan, one of the provinces in China with the highest rate of infection, as well as the opening and development of its new China MSI clinics. A workshop at the adidas Group offices in Guangzhou was held, facilitated by MSI, to bring the relevant stakeholders together for the purpose of reviewing the needs assessment conducted at two different suppliers. We received feedback from the factories, the Guangdong Bureau of Health, the Family Planning Association, the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, and experts from the Migrant Labour Research and Service Centre of Zhongshan University and the Guangdong Women's College.
Following the workshop, both MSI and the adidas Group conducted outreach with a number of different organisations to secure their participation, in order to make this a truly multi-sectoral, private-public engagement. A proposal has been submitted by MSI for a programme covering the needs of workers in Guangzhou and Dongguan, with the potential to reach thousands of factories and hundreds of thousands of workers. There is a possibility that the programme may be pursued under the umbrella of the China Health Alliance, through the efforts of the Global Health Initiative.
We will report back on progress in next year's report.
- MSI Clinic, Vietnam
- Peer educators training, Vietnam