 | In The Spotlight Coalition convenes RH community around issue of Market Dynamics The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC) is convening key stakeholders to forge a common understanding of the market shaping arena and to define roles and areas of potential intervention. The results of this effort not only promise to inform the Coalition’s work, but also underpin broader efforts to harmonize market approaches across the reproductive health community, including the FP2020 MDW (of which the RHSC serves as co-Chair), the UN Commission on Life Saving Commodities, and others. As a neutral and respected forum, the RHSC is uniquely positioned to enable such a discussion, and to help ensure that the current richness of the field works in concert to promote greater availability of a wide range of quality FP products.
To that end, the RHSC has contracted Dalberg Global Development Advisors to conduct a landscape study on reproductive health market dynamics. The study will offer a framework and definition for market dynamics that recognizes the overall goal of choice and equity, acknowledges work done thus far within reproductive health, and aligns with frameworks and terminology being developed by other major players in the global health sector. It will also provide an overview of the landscape of issues, gaps and existing efforts to address reproductive health market dynamics which can serve as a public good for the broader RH community.
Initial findings of this landscape analysis will be presented at a Coalition-convened Market Development Consultation meeting 7-8 May in Washington, D.C. For more information on the meeting, contact Jamee Kuznicki at the Coalition Secretariat. |
| Coalition on the scene Coalition awarded new resources to support maternal health supplies A generous grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will kick-start the Coalition’s newly-formed Caucus on Maternal Health Supplies (MHS). More than 75 Coalition members currently participate in the MHS Caucus, which met formally for the first time in October 2012. Groundwork has begun: key linkages are being forged with the broader maternal health community, knowledge gaps are being identified, and relationships are being strengthened. Work has begun in close partnership with other entities focused on MHS, such as the UN Commission and the MHS Working Group. Caucus activities will be supported through this new grant, as well as through core Coalition funding. For more information on this group, please visit their new webpage. |
| UN Commodities Commission Knowledge Gateway update More than 500 individuals are now using the UN Commodities Commission Knowledge Gateway collaborative site. Fourteen Technical Review Teams (out of 24) are now live and online. The latest TRT to go live is Recommendation 2: Local Delivery Market Shaping. The Coalition continues to provide technical backstopping for users. You can join a TRT here. |
| Injectable shortfalls prompt formation of new DMPA Advisory Group There is a shortage today of SRA/PQ/ERP approved DMPA IM in the world’s poorest countries. The shortage is evident at both country and global levels, with many procurers finding themselves either undersupplied or not supplied at all in 2013. The shortage is estimated to be 20-40M units over the period 2013 to 2014.
In an effort to address this new reality, the Coalition has established a new DMPA Advisory Group. Its aims are to identify the actions needed to manage this shortage in the short term, while at the same time taking whatever steps are needed now to close the gap in the longer term. Proposed strategies include product substitution, procurement triaging, commodity transfers, and in the longer term, increasing the supply of injectable contraceptives that meet international quality standards such as SRA (Stringent Regulatory Authority), PQ (WHO Prequalification) and ERP (WHO Expert Review Panel). For more information on the work of the DMPA Advisory Group, contact John Skibiak. |
| New online home for RHInterchange The RHInterchange can now be found on the website portal of AccessRH, UNFPA's procurement and information service to governments and NGOs working with reproductive health in low and middle income countries. Please use the new http://www.myaccessrh.org/rhi-home site to access an updated version of the RHI, and bookmark it. The RHInterchange provides access to up-to-date, harmonized data on more than US$ 2BN worth of donor-funded contraceptive orders for over 140 countries ― in English, French and Spanish. The RHInterchange and AccessRH were both conceived through a cooperative endeavour among stakeholders under the auspices of the Coalition. UNFPA was selected in 2009 to operationalize AccessRH and host the RHInterchange on behalf of the Coalition and in recognition of its role in the area of family planning and RH commodity security. |
| Coalition welcomes two new members this month for a total membership of 227 -- Federación Latino Americana de Sociedades de Obstetricia y Ginecología (FLASOG), Peru-- For All Consultoria, Brazil |
| Highlights from the Working Groups Working Group Leaders meet It was “house-full” at the Secretariat this month, as four Working Group Leaders, the SECONAF facilitator, and staff met to drive the next phase of Coalition work forward. The meeting identified key linkages between the Coalition, its Implementing Mechanisms and its key objectives. Points of convergence were established between the work of the Coalition and that of FP2020 and the UN Commodities Commission, and lines of communication were mapped. The meeting was crucial to clarify the Coalition’s role and identity in the ever-changing supplies scene. SupplyInsider will report on an ongoing basis on the development of the Coalition’s strategies and efforts. |
| SECONAF keeps track of family planning initiatives in Francophone Africa This month, SECONAF facilitator Badara Seye participated at a workshop to follow up on Civil Society's commitments to family. Organized by the Ouagadougou Partnership, the event took place in Dakar, Senegal, on March 27 – 28, 2013. In the final recommendations, SECONAF was cited as a key partner in moving the agenda forward. The workshop made three key recommendations: reinforce CSOs’ capacities on leadership, accountability, governance and organizational and institutional development; support resource mobilization to streamline and implement FP plans of actions; and reinforce the regional coordination. For more information contact SECONAF Facilitator Badara Seye at bseye@rhsupplies.org. |
| Turning Point for the LAC Forum The LAC Forum received a decided boost this month; a strategic planning meeting in Washington asked the big questions: how can the Forum add value to members, promote and support vibrant dialogue, hold governments accountable to their political and financial commitments, and bring regional challenges to light in order to mobilize technical and financial resources? The planning meeting reaffirmed the Forum’s commitment to the most vulnerable populations in the region.
Outputs will feed into the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Lima this June. For the first time since its inception, the Forum will hone its multiple workstreams under three broad objectives: promoting multisectoral dialogue, supporting commitments, and mobilizing resources. The Lima meeting will also align the Forum’s work with the Coalition’s objectives and key regional objectives. This “joined-up thinking” approach will launch a powerful, new phase of the Forum’s work. SupplyInsider will report on outputs on an ongoing basis. |
| MDA Working Group asks key questions This month, the MDAWG carried out an important initial consultation on the fundamental questions: what should be included in the market dynamics arena? How do pricing issues affect availability and use of commodities? How actually do markets function, and how can the public, not-for-profit and commercial sectors impact markets? Outcomes will feed directly into the Coalition's new Market Shaping workstream. |
| Prioritizing multi-purpose technologies On 27 March, Coalition members joined the Coalition Advancing Multipurpose Innovations in a prioritization exercise on multipurpose prevention technology (MPT) research and development. MPTs are single products that address two or more outcomes simultaneously, such as contraception and HIV prevention. Coalition members contributed their insights on considerations for market development, introduction strategies, and procurement; these insights will be incorporated into the final recommendations, which will be published later this year. This meeting is in line with MDAWG efforts to engage researchers and product developers early on to ensure consideration of market dynamics. For more information contact Bethany Young-Holt, Executive Director of CAMI, or visit: www.cami-health.org. |
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Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition
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