Supply vs demand
1st November 2006
A lively e-discussion is taking place among some MDA WG members over the appropriate role of demand generation within a market development approach and the implications of that role for the WG, its membership, and the RHSC more generally. Within the Coalition much is said about supply, especially at a global level but far less is heard about demand at country level. Is this appropriate? The consensus seems to be that it is not; but some say the imbalance has been deliberate -that the RHSC was created to focus on supply issues and that demand creation was, from the beginning, outside its purview. Market development and demand generation are inextricably linked. This point was emphasised in the recent HLSP scoping exercise and in the Mercer report, which saw demand as a critical component of the supplies package.
So what does one make of this imbalance? To some, the low profile of demand generation speaks to absence within the MDA WG of RHSC members (and others) with experience in demand creation. Others see demand generation as a cross-cutting issue -one to be addressed across working groups and/or the RHSC generally.
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November 2006, RHSC