Health commodity security

We strengthen commodity security systems, ensuring everyone can access the commodities they need, when they need them.

Availability and access to high-quality, affordable health commodities is fundamental to achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health services and to the wider goal of universal health coverage.

We work with government, private sector and civil society organisations to improve efficiency, effectiveness and equity of commodity supply in order to increase access to quality health services, products and technologies.

We take a systems approach to health commodity security, recognising the complex mix of factors that influence progress including changes in the economic and political landscape, demographic changes affecting demand and the emergence of new products and technologies.

We work with partners to:

Strengthen government stewardship and coordination of health commodity markets, ensuring a conducive policy and regulatory environment. This includes harnessing the private sector through a Total Market Approach (TMA).
Strengthen the sustainability of commodity supply in the context of reduced donor funding. This includes strategic advocacy and tailored technical assistance to ensure funding for commodities is prioritised in national and sub-national budgets and strategic purchasing arrangements.
Enhance skills of national and sub-national government to forecast and quantify their health commodity requirements based on local priorities and needs.
Undertake bottleneck analyses to uncover the barriers to commodity availability in the global, national and sub-national supply chain and identify solutions that can be prioritised for investment.
Strengthen government capacity for the last mile distribution. We do this through evidence-based decision making and the use of technology-based supply management systems. These provide end to end visibility ensuring commodities are available in sufficient quantities where they are needed.
Support grassroot organisations to effectively advocate for improvements in commodity security, drawing on evidence such the impact of frequent stockouts on service quality and availability.