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.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2005-01
Subjects:	ACCESS TO INFORMATION, ACCESS TO THE INTERNET, ACRONYMS, APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT, APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY, ATTRIBUTES, AUTHORSHIP, AUTOMATED SYSTEM, AVAILABILITY OF DATA, BACK UP, BASIC, BEST PRACTICES, BUSINESS PROCESSES, BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS, BUYER, BUYERS, BUYING POWER, CITATION, COLLABORATION, COLLECTION OF DATA, COLLECTION OF INFORMATION, COMMODITIES, COMMODITY, COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE, COMPANY INFORMATION, COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE, COMPETITIVE BIDDING, COMPUTERIZATION, COMPUTERS, CONDOMS, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONNECTIVITY, CONTENTS, CURRENCY CONVERSION, DATA COLLECTION, DATA ELEMENTS, DATA ENTRY, DATA INTEGRITY, DATA MANAGEMENT, DATA PROVIDERS, DATA SOURCES, DATA SUBMISSION, DECISION MAKING, DESCRIPTION, DESIGNATION, DOCUMENTS, DOS, E-MAIL, ELECTRICITY, EQUIPMENT, EXCHANGE RATE, FAMILY PLANNING, FAXES, FUNCTIONALITY, GENERAL PUBLIC, GOVERNMENT REVENUES, HARD COPY, HARDWARE, HARMONIZATION, HOSPITALS, HUMAN RESOURCE, HUMAN RESOURCES, ID, INDICES, INFORMATION FLOW, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, INFORMATION NEED, INFORMATION NEEDS, INFORMATION ON PRODUCT, INFORMATION ON PRODUCTS, INFORMATION PROVISION, INFORMATION SHARING, INFORMATION SYSTEM, INFORMATION SYSTEMS, INSPECTIONS, INTERFACES, INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER, MANAGEMENT INFORMATION, MARKET INFORMATION, MARKET PLACE, MARKET RESEARCH, MARKET SHARE, MARKETING, MEDICINES, NORMALIZATION, PHONE, PHONE LINE, POLICY SUPPORT, POLITICAL WILL, PRICE INFORMATION, PROCUREMENT, PROCUREMENT PROCESS, PROCUREMENTS, PRODUCT CATEGORIES, PROGRAMS, PROTOTYPE, QUALITY CONTROL, QUERY, RESULT, RESULTS, RISK FACTORS, SEARCH, SECURITY FEATURES, SERVER, SERVERS, SITES, SOCIAL MARKETING, SOFTWARE APPLICATION, SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, SPREADSHEETS, SUPPLY CHAINS, SYSTEM DESIGN, SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT, SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS, SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, TECHNICAL RESOURCES, TECHNICAL STAFF, TECHNICAL STANDARDS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TELEPHONE, TERMINOLOGY, TRAINING MATERIALS, TRANSACTION, TRANSMISSION, USER, USERS, VERIFICATION, WEB, WEBSITE,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/01/16376129/west-african-reproductive-health-commodity-security-development-sub-regional-coordinated-informed-buying-system https://hdl.handle.net/10986/14891
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