West African Reproductive Health Commodity Security - Development of a Sub-Regional Coordinated Informed Buying System
During the Fifth Ordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Health Ministers, organized by the West African Health Organization (WAHO) in Accra, Ghana, in October 2004, the Ministers adopted a recommendation for WAHO to begin the implementation of an information sharing system that would enhance each country s ability to share and access product, supplier, and pharmaceutical market information. At WAHO s request, John Snow, Inc./DELIVER initiated this implementation, beginning with the design. This report summarizes DELIVER s findings. By starting with a well researched and designed plan for implementation, the Coordinated Informed Buying (CIB) system will better meet the needs of the users, and, ultimately, be a tool to assist the region in their efforts towards reproductive health commodity security (RHCS). Nine out of the 15 ECOWAS countries provided input, with more than 85 individuals contributing to this design. Anecdotal information suggests that sharing of various elements of pharmaceutical procurement already occurs among countries in the region but in an ad hoc or limited manner. A CIB system would potentially capitalize on this kind of experience and build a systematic strategy of regional coordination for information sharing, and, ultimately, improve the buying power for all involved. The overwhelming majority of key informants indicated that a CIB system would be valuable either directly or indirectly for national procurement activities. Across the board, organizations and individuals interviewed articulated the benefits that they perceived for the country in having a CIB system in place. Notably, managers said that the process of building the tool and meeting as like-minded professionals to work as a region would be as valuable as the tool itself. CIB was noted for its potential to provide relevant information; that information would help in understanding what specific health commodity procurements are taking place in both the region and bordering countries (versus the general indices of prices). This document maps a plan for CIB implementation to start first with available data and to make use of existing infrastructure. For data collection, all countries should be invited to share information and should also be invited to use the CIB, regardless of whether a country provides information (i.e., access to information should not be restricted only to those who provide data). This paper recommends that WAHO take the role of lead coordinator and, prior to proceeding, a CIB System Manager situated at WAHO should be identified to lead the process.