Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition

Last updated
Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition
AbbreviationRHSC
Founded2004
Type Non-Governmental Organization
FocusReproductive health supplies, reproductive health, maternal health, family planning, global health
Location
  • International locations
Key people
Beth Fredrick, Chair
Martyn Smith, Director
Website www.rhsupplies.org

The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC) is a global partnership of public, private and non-governmental organizations. Its aim is to ensure that all people in low- and middle-income countries can choose, obtain and use the supplies and appropriate services they need to safeguard their reproductive health. Since 2004, the Coalition has been part of international efforts to secure reproductive health supplies by increasing resources, strengthening systems, and building effective partnerships.

Contents

History

Since the 1970s, the international community has worked on providing access to the supplies and equipment needed to deliver quality reproductive health services in the developing world. In the early years, that engagement was largely financial and technical, focused in particular on effective supply chain management. By the late 1990s waning interest within the international donor community coupled with weak commitment by countries prompted many to see sustained access to reproductive health supplies as depending as much on effective advocacy as on purely technical support. Alarmed at the prospect of significant funding shortfalls, stakeholders from around the world met in 2001 in Istanbul at a conference entitled "Meeting the Challenge". [1] This conference was the starting point for a coordinated global reproductive health supplies movement. In 2003 the Supply Initiative was established as a coordinating mechanism. In 2004, 12 organizations, mostly donors from the public and non-governmental sectors, established the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition. Their aim was to foster better coordination and collaboration in such areas as global advocacy, resource mobilization, and supply chain strengthening. By the end of 2011 the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition included 155 member organizations, among them developing country governments, international and national non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, technical agencies, bilateral donors, multilateral organizations, private foundations, regional bodies, and manufacturers. In 2011, 360 participants from 56 countries gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, [2] [3] to mark the 10th anniversary of Meeting the Challenge and raise the international profile of reproductive health commodity security. [4] [5]

Reproductive health supplies

Reproductive health supplies refer to any material or consumable needed to provide reproductive health (RH) services. This includes contraceptives for family planning, drugs to treat sexually transmitted infections, and equipment such as that used for safe delivery.

More specialized definitions of RH supplies have also been formulated. One of these is WHO's Interagency List of Essential Medicines for Reproductive Health (2006), [6] which reflects the current international consensus on essential medicines for the provision of quality RH services. Because the list prioritizes medicines believed to address the most pressing public health problems, it is by definition, selective. Nonetheless, it does include a broad range of contraceptives, drugs to prevent and treat sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, and medicines to ensure healthy pregnancy and delivery. The Interagency List is a subset of the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, [7] updated every two years since 1977. The 17th edition of the Essentials Medicines List (EML) was last published in 2011. To assist countries who formulate their own lists of essential RH supplies, based on local needs, the Coalition partners WHO, UNFPA and PATH published the Essential Medicines for Reproductive Health: Guiding Principles for their inclusion on National Medicines Lists (2006). [8]

Threats to reproductive health commodity security

Worldwide, the availability of reproductive health (RH) supplies, including contraceptives, medicines for prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS, and medicines to ensure healthy pregnancy and delivery, falls short of current demands. [9] No single set of factors can fully explain this reality, but the three factors are of particular significance:

Strategic Pillars

Achieving The Coalition's vision will not occur without certain conditions being met: that supplies actually reach those who need them most; that the supplies are affordable and within the reach of all; that supplies and products are of trusted quality; and that there is a sufficient choice of supplies to meet users' needs. These four broad preconditions—availability, equity, quality, and choice—are the Strategic Pillars.[ citation needed ]

Working Groups and other mechanisms for collaboration

Three Working Groups are the principal vehicles through which Coalition members collaborate.
The Market Development Approaches (MDA) Working Group contributes to the goal of reproductive health supply security through a greater focus on the "total market", which includes the private and commercial sectors.
The Advocacy and Accountability (A&A WG) Working Group (formerly known as Resource Mobilization and Awareness Working Group RMA WG) contributes to the health and well-being of all individuals by ensuring they have access to RH commodities they want when they need them.
The Systems Strengthening Working Group aims to strengthen the global, regional, and country systems needed to ensure a reliable and predictable supply of RH commodities, primarily in the public sector.[ citation needed ]

In addition to the Working Groups the Coalition includes fora and caucuses dedicated to youth, maternal health supplies, generic manufacturers, and new and underused reproductive health technologies as well as regional fora for Latin America Foro Latinoamericano y del Caribe para el Aseguramiento de insumos de SR or LAC Forum and Francophone Africa Sécurité Contraceptive en Afrique Francophone SECONAF.[ citation needed ]

Services

The Global Family Planning Visibility and Analytics Network. [11] For nearly two decades, the RHSC has averted supply crises using resources that have become bywords in the community such as the CARhs, the CSP group, the RH Interchange, and the PPMR. In a bid to share data more effectively and dismantle old information silos, all these resources have come together under the Global Family Planning VAN (the VAN). The VAN is a shared global network that captures and uses supply chain data from multiple sources to ensure (a) more timely and cost-effective delivery of commodities to countries; (b) more women reached with the right product at the right time; and (c) better coordination on how to allocate limited health resources.

The Costed Commodity Gap Analysis [12] contributes vital data and analysis to inform strategies to close widening funding gaps and to secure future supply availability.

The 2020 Family Planning Market Report [13] features family planning shipment data from 16 suppliers, providing visibility into family planning procurement in the 69 FP2020 focus countries, and synthesizes recent supplier and procurement data as well as five-year trends from 2015 to 2019.

Innovation Fund [14] is the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition's flagship initiative for inspiring and financing new activities that further the Coalition's strategic goals and those of its Working Groups. Established in 2008, it has granted more than $6.2 million under the Innovation Fund in 70 small grants and leveraged more than $20.6 million – a return of roughly $3.32 to $1.

Supplies Information Database (SID) [15] is an online reference library with over 6,000 records on the status of reproductive health supplies at country-level. The library includes studies, assessments and other publications dating back to 1986, many of which are no longer available even in their country of origin.

LAPTOP [16] is a course database that includes more than 650 training opportunities in logistics and supply chain management. For more than a decade, LAPTOP has helped students and young professionals pursue educational opportunities and advance their careers.

MarketBookshelf.com [17] is a large and open-access collection of health market literature, offering immediate access to documents and related resources needed to understand, develop and intervene in different global health markets. It covers a broad range of health areas, including malaria, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, contraception, neonatal and child health, maternal health, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases, immunization and non-communicable disease.

Funding

The Coalition is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DFID, UNFPA, USAID [18] and other members' contributions.

Executive Committee members (May 2024)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Foundation</span> Charitable organization

The United Nations Foundation is a charitable organization headquartered in Washington, DC, that supports the United Nations and its activities. It was established in 1998 with a $1 billion gift to the United Nations by philanthropist Ted Turner, who believed the UN was crucial for addressing the world's problems. Originally primarily a grantmaker, the UN Foundation has evolved into a strategic partner to the UN, mobilizing support to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and help the UN address issues such as climate change, global health, gender equality, human rights, data and technology, peace, and humanitarian responses. The UN Foundation's main work occurs through building public-private partnerships, communities, initiatives, campaigns, and alliances to broaden support for the UN and solve global problems. The UN Foundation has helped build awareness and advocate for action on, among others, antimicrobial resistance, regional action on climate change, local implementation of the SDGs, as well as global campaigns such as Nothing But Nets against malaria, the Measles & Rubella Initiative, the Clean Cooking Alliance, Girl Up, Shot@Life, and the Digital Impact Alliance, among others. In March 2020, the UN Foundation was also a key founder of the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO), helping to raise over $200 million USD within the first six weeks to support the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family planning</span> Planning when to have children

Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marital situation, career or work considerations, financial situations. If sexually active, family planning may involve the use of contraception and other techniques to control the timing of reproduction.

Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:

Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual and reproductive health</span> State of the reproductive system without evidence of disease, disorders, or deficiencies

Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Sexual and reproductive health is more commonly defined as sexual and reproductive health and rights, to encompass individual agency to make choices about their sexual and reproductive lives.

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is a global non-governmental organisation with the broad aims of promoting sexual and reproductive health, and advocating the right of individuals to make their own choices in family planning. It was first formed in 1952 in Bombay, India, by Margaret Sanger and Lady Rama Rau at the Third International Conference on Planned Parenthood with support of an expanding population with limited resources. Presently, it consists of more than 149 Member Associations working in more than 189 countries. The IPPF is highly developed and organised into six regions. The organisation is based in London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Population Council</span>

The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The Council conducts research in biomedicine, social science, and public health and helps build research capacities in developing countries. One-third of its research relates to HIV and AIDS; while its other major program areas are still linked to its early foundation in reproductive health and its relation to poverty, youth, and gender. For example, the Population Council strives to teach boys that they can be involved in contraceptive methods regardless of stereotypes that limit male responsibility in child bearing. The organization held the license for Norplant contraceptive implant, and now holds the license for Mirena intrauterine system. The Population Council also publishes the journal Population and Development Review, which reports scientific research on the interrelationships between population and socioeconomic development. It also provides a forum for discussion on related issues of public policy and Studies in Family Planning, which focuses on public health, social science, and biomedical research involving sexual and reproductive health, fertility, and family planning.

MSI Reproductive Choices, named Marie Stopes International until November 2020, is an international non-governmental organisation providing contraception and safe abortion services in 37 countries around the world. MSI Reproductive Choices as an organisation lobbies in favour of access to abortion, and provides a variety of sexual and reproductive healthcare services including advice, vasectomies, and abortions in the UK and other countries where it is legal to do so. It is based in London and is a registered charity under English law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Female condom</span> Device for birth control and STI prevention

A female condom is a barrier device that is used during sexual intercourse as a barrier contraceptive to reduce the probability of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection (STI). It is inserted in the vagina or anus before intercourse to reduce the risk of exposure to semen or other body fluids. The female condom was invented by Danish MD Lasse Hessel in 1990 and approved by the FDA for sale in the US in 1993.

Contraceptive security is an individual's ability to reliably choose, obtain, and use quality contraceptives for family planning and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. The term refers primarily to efforts undertaken in low and middle-income countries to ensure contraceptive availability as an integral part of family planning programs. Even though there is a consistent increase in the use of contraceptives in low, middle, and high-income countries, the actual contraceptive use varies in different regions of the world. The World Health Organization recognizes the importance of contraception and describes all choices regarding family planning as human rights. Subsidized products, particularly condoms and oral contraceptives, may be provided to increase accessibility for low-income people. Measures taken to provide contraceptive security may include strengthening contraceptive supply chains, forming contraceptive security committees, product quality assurance, promoting supportive policy environments, and examining financing options.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">German Foundation for World Population</span>

DSW is an international private non-profit foundation addressing Sexual & Reproductive Health (SRH) and population dynamics. DSW funds its project and advocacy work from private donations and the financial support of governments, foundations and other organisations. It has its headquarters in Hanover, Germany.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family planning in India</span> Efforts to curb unintended pregnancies in India

Family planning in India is based on efforts largely sponsored by the Indian government. From 1965 to 2009, contraceptive usage has more than tripled and the fertility rate has more than halved, but the national fertility rate in absolute numbers remains high, causing concern for long-term population growth. India adds up to 1,000,000 people to its population every 20 days. Extensive family planning has become a priority in an effort to curb the projected population of two billion by the end of the twenty-first century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012</span> Philippine law

The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, also known as the Reproductive Health Law or RH Law, and officially designated as Republic Act No. 10354, is a Philippine law that provided universal access to methods on contraception, fertility control, sexual education, and maternal care in the Philippines.

Roots of Health is a nonprofit organization focused on improving the reproductive, maternal and sexual health of women, girls, and their communities in Puerto Princesa, Palawan in the Philippines. Roots of Health is committed to working towards a vision of the Philippines where everyone is empowered to access sexual and reproductive health services free from stigma and discrimination. The organization's three-pronged strategy focuses on clinical services, education, and system strengthening. Roots of Health aims to encourage self-reliance and independence among women, young people and families in Palawan by providing scientifically accurate information on health, along with age-appropriate educational services to change health attitudes and behaviors. Roots of Health also seeks to reduce the incidence of maternal mortality, HIV and promote the importance of preventing teenage pregnancy to help ensure continued education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family planning in Pakistan</span> Political issue

Even though there is considerable demand for family planning in Pakistan, the adoption of family planning has been hampered by government neglect, lack of services and misconceptions. Demographics play a large role in Pakistan's development and security since the change from military rule to civilian leadership. Challenges to Pakistani's well-being, opportunities for education and employment, and access to health care are escalated due to the country's continuously-growing population. It was estimated in 2005 that Pakistan's population totaled 151 million; a number which grows 1.9 percent annually, equaling a 2.9 million population growth per year. Though Pakistan's fertility rates still exceed those of neighboring South Asian countries with a total fertility rate at 4.1 and contraception use is lower than 35 percent, approximately one-fourth of Pakistani women wish to either delay the birth of their next child or end childbearing altogether.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birth control in Africa</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Zambia</span> Overview of the status of women in Zambia

The status of women in Zambia has improved in recent years. Among other things, the maternal mortality rate has dropped and the National Assembly of Zambia has enacted multiple policies aimed at decreasing violence against women. However, progress is still needed. Most women have limited access to reproductive healthcare, and the total number of women infected with HIV in the country continues to rise. Moreover, violence against women in Zambia remains common. Child marriage rates in Zambia are some of the highest in the world, and women continue to experience high levels of physical and sexual violence.

References

  1. ↑ Contraceptive Projections and the Donor Gap (April 2001). Interim Working Group on Reproductive Health Commodity Security. ISBN   1-889735-09-4.
  2. ↑ globalpost "Contraceptives boost for poor countries" by Tristan McConnell, June 24, 2011 http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/africa-emerges/contraceptives-boost-poor-countries
  3. ↑ Kaiser Family Foundation "Conference Examines Family Planning Benefits For Health" June 24, 2011 http://globalhealth.kff.org/Daily-Reports/2011/June/24/GH-062411-Reproductive-Health-Conference.aspx
  4. ↑ Reprodictive Health Supplies Coalition "Reproductive Health Commodity Security: Leading from behind to forge a global movement" by Julie Solo (2011) http://www.rhsupplies.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Access/JulieSolo.pdf
  5. ↑ ERTA News "Ethiopia endeavoring to improve RH services" 22 June 2011 http://www.ertagov.com/erta/erta-news-archive/38-erta-tv-hot-news-addis-ababa-ethiopia/743-moh-ethiopia-endeavoring-to-improve-rh-services-.html
  6. ↑ World Health Organization (WHO) "The interagency list of essential medicines for reproductive health" (2006) by Department of Reproductive Health and Research and Department of Medicines Policy and Standards
  7. ↑ World Health Organization (WHO) "Model Lists of Essential Medicines"; 17th WHO Essential Medicines List and the 3rd WHO Essential Medicines List for Children updated in March 2011 http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/essentialmedicines/en
  8. ↑ "PATH: Publication : Essential Medicines for Reproductive Health: Guiding Principles for Inclusion on National Medicines Lists". Archived from the original on 2012-04-07. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  9. ↑ IPS "Another Push for Reproductive Rights" by Pam Johnson, June 17, 2011 http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56134 Archived 2011-10-12 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ "Another Push for Reproductive Rights". 17 June 2011.
  11. ↑ "The Global Family Planning Visibility and Analytics Network (GFPVAN)".
  12. ↑ "LEAP/Commodity Gap Analyses".
  13. ↑ https://www.rhsupplies.org/uploads/tx_rhscpublications/Family-Planning-Market-Report.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  14. ↑ "Innovation Fund".
  15. ↑ "Publications".
  16. ↑ Learning and Professional Training Opportunities Database https://www.rhsupplies.org/laptop
  17. ↑ "Home". marketbookshelf.com.
  18. ↑ Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition "Annual report 2010" http://www.rhsupplies.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Annual_Report/ARFinal.pdf
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