FHI 360

FHI is a public health and development organization working to improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable people. Our 2,500 staff work in 55 countries conducting research and implementing programs that advance public health and build local capacity to address development problems. Since 1971, Family Health International has been a global leader in family planning and reproductive health and, since 1986, in the worldwide response to HIV/AIDS. Our research and programs also address malaria, tuberculosis, and other infectious and chronic diseases. Our partners include US and international agencies, governments, foundations, research institutions, and individual donors. Family Health International grew from a contraceptive research project that began 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, FHI's work expanded from family planning into many other areas of reproductive health research and technical assistance. FHI investigated and then 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 infection and 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 NIH, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, remain important funders.