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Dr. Rashmi
Kukreja

Chief of Party, DMPA project, India

Dr. Rashmi Kukreja is a medical doctor with more than 25 years of professional experience working on family planning (FP), reproductive health (RH), health systems strengthening, and research. Rashmi has worked with international organizations such as the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Abt Associates, and CARE in senior leadership and technical roles. She engaged at various high-level donor coordination forums and Government of India expert committees for organizations such as FP2020, RMNCH+A, GAVI, and Polio Eradication. She is a member of several Indian national technical expert groups for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, actively contributing to shape the FP/RH agenda.

Rashmi leads the $7.7 million Family Planning project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Packard Foundation, in five large high-fertility Indian states The goal is to reduce unintended pregnancies. She engages with donors and senior government officials for strategy, planning, and sharing insights and evidence from the project. The highlights include information about contraceptive user profiles, service access, and quality.

Rashmi supervises 15 senior professionals, including experts in public health medical issues, communications, research, and monitoring, learning, and evaluation.

Key achievements include:

  • Scaling up an innovative digital FP telecounseling platform in five states.  Convinced Government to transition the model to a government-funded Helpline.
  • Supported Ministry of Health in the design and implementation of nation-wide Digital Virtual training packages on a new contraceptive, DMPA.

Under the Health, Finance, and Governance Project, Rashmi:

  • Led FP secondary research and evidence generation to analyze fertility trends and FP uptake among adolescents and youth.
  • Supported Government of India National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) implementation of its first national health performance index.
  • Designed a toolkit for setting up adolescent-friendly health resource centers. 

As DFID health adviser in India, she:

  • Led health sector reform and reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) programs in three states and quality assurance and quality improvements of FP and RH health services.
  • Supported international DFID offices in Bangladesh, South Africa, Nepal, and UK for RMNCH project reviews and developed FP, abortion, and midwifery strategy.

Expertise:

  • Family planning and reproductive health
  • Health systems strengthening
  • Research and evaluation

Key Projects:

  • Public sector roll out of DMPA in India
  • Health Financing and Governance Project in India
  • USAID CARE - RACHNA Project
  • DFID Ujjwal (private sector family planning) project
  • DFID National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 Project, Demographic and Health Survey (DHS)
  • DFID Health sector reform projects in various states

Publications:

Contributor to various Government of India publications and programs:

  • Handbook for Improving MCH services in India (2013)
  • IUCD Reference Manual for Medical Officers and Nursing staff (2013)
  • Reference Manual for DMPA Injectable Contraceptive (2016)
  • Healthy states -Progressive India, NITI Aayog and World Bank Report (2018)
  • Reference Manual for Integrated RMNCAH +N Counselling (2021)
  • Effectiveness of health financing through a Sector Support Programme: A case study of Health System Development Initiative in West Bengal, India, (2011)

Countries Served In:

  • India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and South Africa
Dr Rashmi Kukreja