New efforts gather speed under Compass initiative

Since its inception at the end of 2021, the Compass initiative has launched new efforts within all three of its priority areas: Towards Regionalization, Managing Scarce Resources, and Learning from Adaptations.

• A new effort within Compass assesses risk to sustained procurement of reproductive health supplies. Conducted by Avenir Health, this analysis will explore the state of public sector financing for contraceptives and trends in donor financing. It will also identify probable impacts of the pandemic on these resources, as well as risk and resilience factors to watch for in the future.
• The first few months of the pandemic were marked by reactive crisis management on myriad fronts. During this reactive period, as national lockdowns were enacted, reproductive health access was curtailed in low- and middle-income countries, and supply chains were severely disrupted. Fortunately, the situation rebounded within a short period in many settings, in part because adaptations were rapidly put in place that enabled the functioning of supply chains, markets, and service delivery. Now, The RHSC has contracted InSupply Health to develop an assessment of adaptation strategies used over the last couple of years to support access to FP supplies, mapping those which were attempted, implemented, and sustained.
• Over 70 percent of pharmaceuticals consumed in Sub-Saharan Africa are imports, while only three percent of the world’s pharmaceutical manufacturing is carried out on the African continent. During the pandemic, this lack of regional manufacturing contributed to countless, severe public health challenges across the Continent. Many African leaders no longer believe that the existing pharmaceutical manufacturing and supply chain arrangements are sustainable. And the community is now familiar with the new, impassioned calls for greater development of SSA’s industrial capacity for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Through the Compass initiative, RHSC convened a regional manufacturing consultative group made up of members of the Systems Strengthening Working Group (SSWG). This group serves as a forum and sounding board on the prospects for regional manufacturing of pharmaceuticals in Africa.  At the same time, the Coalition is exploring potential Compass activities to expand the knowledge base on regional manufacturing.

For more information on any of these activities, please contact Safia Ahsan on sahsan@rhsupplies.org.

Categories: COVID-19, Systems Strengthening Working Group