Family Health International - History

History

Family Health International grew from a contraceptive research project begun at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1971. An initial grant from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) helped establish the International Fertility Research Program (IFRP), which became an independent, nonprofit organization in 1975. In 1982 IFRP changed its name to Family Health International. Since then Family Health International work expanded beyond family planning into other areas of reproductive health research and technical assistance. FHI investigated and implemented effective ways to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and enhance the quality of reproductive health services. In 1986, FHI began working on early strategies to prevent HIV infectionand in 1987 FHI was awarded USAID's first five-year HIV/AIDS prevention program in developing countries. Continuous funding since then – from USAID, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and others – enabled FHI to manage some of the largest HIV/AIDS programs in the world. US Government agencies, principally USAID, the National Institutes of Health, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, remain important funding sources. Other major sponsors of HIV/AIDS programs, as well as other health and development areas, include the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Increasingly, other governments, private foundations, and the private sector are partnering with FHI to overcome the health and development challenges. In 2010, Family Health International rebranded itself with the new tagline, “The science of improving lives,” highlighting FHI's commitment to empirical science empowering the world’s most vulnerable people. The name was also simplified to FHI, reflecting a broadened scope that encompasses health and development as well as service to families, communities, and nations.