The Urban Health Initiative (UHI) is part of a five-year, four country initiative supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal, and India. UHI India is a consortium of international, national, nongovernmental, and community-based organizations working together to improve the health of the urban poor, especially in the state of Uttar Pradesh. UHI is designed to be complementary to national and state health sector plans and goals. The initiative supports the implementation and scale-up of effective evidence-based strategies, as well as the testing of promising innovations.

Goals

The goal of UHI is to improve maternal and infant survival in urban settings, with an emphasis on strategies to expand access to and use of family planning.

UHI Supports:

• Individuals to use services and supplies and practice health behaviors that enable them to achieve their desired family size, maintain good health, and enhance their chances of survival.
• Providers to deliver evidence-based quality services and supplies that are responsive to client need, choice, safety, and satisfaction.
• Programs and policies to expand access and utilization of services and supplies associated with improved health.

UHI Objectives

• Increase contraceptive use.
• Increase quality of reproductive health and family planning services.
• Increase access to a range of reproductive health supplies and services.
• Increase demand for services and supplies.
• Increase scale or number of cities with effective strategies.