Background
USAID’s child survival program began in 1982. It marked a shift away from support for primary health care systems toward support for focused preventive and curative health interventions, aimed at the main causes of mortality and morbidity in less developed countries. The Child Survival Strategy, adopted in 1986, focused on the development and application of effective, low-cost technologies, principally immunization and oral rehydration therapy (ORT)—the so-called “twin engines” of health development—as well as nutrition and healthy pregnancy spacing.
After 1986, USAID launched three global projects to provide technical assistance for the implementation of its child survival activities. The technologies and resources for child health (REACH) project supported the expanded program on immunization (EPI) and, to a lesser extent, Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI). The Technology for Primary Health Care (PRITECH) project supported diarrheal disease control (CDD) programs and increased the use of ORT. The Communication and Marketing for Child Survival (HealthCom) project provided information, education and communication (IEC) support to child survival programs.
In 1993, USAID brought together the key elements of REACH, PRITECH, and HealthCom, along with other child health and nutrition interventions, in a single global leadership and technical assistance contract: The Basic Support for Institutionalizing Child Survival (BASICS) Project. This was USAID’s first BASICS award.
In 1999, USAID awarded BASICS II, a five year contract to assist the agency’s Center for Population, Health, and Nutrition (now the bureau for Global Health, BGH), other USAID bureaus, and field missions in developing and implementing child survival programs. The mission of BASICS II was to support the, “Increased use of effective, improved, and sustainable child health interventions.” To achieve this objective, BASICS II activities were programmed to correspond to critical program needs and child survival technical priorities. These included increased effectiveness and sustainability of child immunizations, intergrated approaches to child health, and incorporating nutrition into child survival activities and neonatal survival and health.
These first two BASICS contracts helped countries build the capacity to carry out assessment of child health needs, identify and negotiate with local partners, and design and manage child health programs. They also helped develop and introduce innovations in child health and consolidate and integrate child health program. Building on those achievements, the current phase of BASICS, which began in 2004, is driven by the principle of achieving broad the greatest possible effective coverage of child survival interventions, using USAID resources to complement and influence the investments of other partners in the field.