SPARHCS

Strategic Pathway to Reproductive Health Commodity Security (SPRHCS)

The SPARHCS Tool is designed to help countries develop and implement strategies to secure essential supplies for family planning and reproductive health (RH) programmes. It provides a framework for bringing together a wide range of stakeholders to achieve reproductive health commodity security (RHCS) at sub-national, national or regional level. SPARHCS can be customized to meet local needs and resources. It can be used for contraceptives alone, for contraceptives and condoms for HIV/STI prevention, or for a broader set of RH supplies. To date, SPARHCS has been used in 50 countries, all reflecting different stages of RHCS experience, donor support and health sector reform. In addition of being used at the national level, SPARHCS is appropriate for use at the regional (e.g. West Africa) and sub-national levels.

The "SPARHCS process" seeks to measurably strengthen RHCS through attention to each phase of the cycle of RHCS activities - from awareness raising to monitoring the effectiveness of a strategic plan for RHCS. The tool can frame activities at each phase and guide strategic planning. Typically, the tool has been used for RHCS assessments of family planning or broader RH supply programmes. Such assessments (or joint diagnoses) often catalyze a comprehensive approach to improving RHCS.

Process Guide

The SPARHCS Process Guide is a companion to the SPARHCS Tool that is intended to help programme managers, consultants, and technical assistance providers carry out the SPARHCS process. 

The Guide describes how the SPARHCS Tool can be adapted to local context and needs, serve as a framework for identifying and prioritizing key RHCS issues, and guide the planning and implementation of RHCS strategic plans. The Guide uses a broad array of real world examples to document the adaptability and benefits of SPARHCS for strenghtening RHCS in a variety of contexts. 

Country assessments and strategic plans

Country SPARHCS assessments and strategic plans are available on the Publications Database.