ABSTRACT
In the Sudan Community-Based Health and Family Planning Project the selection of issues to be included in the training program was based on an assessment of national health problems and priorities. Top priority was given to preventive medicine with special emphasis on maternal and child health (MCH), family planning (FP) and immunization for children. Interventions selected for the project were family planning, oral rehydration therapy, immunization referral, and nutrition counselling. The curriculum was based on the tasks identified and was designed to use the skills of the available personnel. The design was competency-based and practical in nature: students learned by doing. The religious point of view regarding health and FP was stressed, and discussions were held at length to overcome any resistance and to convince the village midwives (VMW) of the need for an MCH/FP program. VMWs were taught to be village motivators for the extended program of immunization, particularly regarding the oral polio vaccine.
