 | In the spotlight The Coalition’s far-reaching legacy As the Coalition approaches a decade of addressing unmet need for reproductive health supplies, “proud moments” continue to arise from the far-reaching impact of its work and partnerships. A number of today’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH) leaders have spent significant parts of their careers within the Coalition, and we like to think of the Coalition as an ideal springboard for visionaries who benefit from the equitable, comradely approach of partnership-building for which the Coalition is renowned.
Two such Coalition “alumni” recently assumed significant mantles of leadership. Some two months ago, Valerie DeFillipo was appointed Director of the Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) Partnership. A longtime supporter and stakeholder in the SRH arena, Ms. DeFillipo has also served on the Coalition’s chief governing body, the Executive Committee, and lent her vision to the direction and development of the Coalition’s function. Her appointment was announced here.
More recently, the World Bank’s Elizabeth Lule was named director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Family Planning programme, and will assume her position in mid-June. Ms. Lule was the Coalition’s first Chair and lent her vision and support unstintingly.
No single player can challenge on their own the yawning unmet need for reproductive health (RH) supplies. Real change is contingent on lasting, organic, and effective partnerships. In congratulating Ms. DeFillipo and Ms. Lule, the Coalition also looks forward to reinforcing old friendships and building on them in this next exciting, demanding phase of work where the SRH world comes together to face down unmet need - once and for all. |
| 14th Coalition Membership Meeting in October
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| What: The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition’s 14th Membership Meeting When: 10-11 October 2013 (satellite meetings begin on the 7th) Where: New Delhi, India Theme: Partnerships between civil society and the manufacturing sector Deadline: Send your ideas and thoughts to secretariat(at)rhsupplies.org by 25 June 2013 |
| Coalition hosts consultation on market dynamics Under its new Market Shaping initiative, the Coalition is leading a community-wide effort to forge a common understanding of the market dynamics (MD) arena; to define issues, gaps, and existing work in this arena; and to ensure our community works in concert to maximize collective impact. On 7-8 May, representatives of more than 30 organizations met in Washington, DC to reflect on initial findings of a landscaping exercise undertaken by Dalberg Global Consultants.
Three broad themes emerged from two-days of lively discussion. Firstly is historical depth – the family planning community’s experience in MD extends back decades, with much knowledge and insight on which to draw. Secondly, MD interventions hold out prospects for change, not only in the “product” space but also in the market for service provision. And finally, the prospect to create greater equity and value for money through market shaping occurs globally as well as locally.
Consultation feedback and subsequent research will feed into a narrative report. For more information, please contact Anita Deshpande, Senior Programme Officer for Market Shaping, at adeshpande(at)rhsupplies.org. |
| Market Shaping Panel gives overview at Women Deliver conference A Coalition-moderated session at the recent Kuala Lumpur Women Deliver conference provided an overview of the market shaping arena, unpacked what is understood by the term “market shaping”, and shared how different players are working to address barriers that impede affordability, quality, and secure supply of contraceptive choices.
Coalition Director John Skibiak introduced the session by cautioning that the concept of market shaping is not a magic bullet but rather about choice, equity and sustainable outcomes. Panelists included Denise Harrison from USAID, Hema Srinivasan from the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Klaus Brill from Bayer Healthcare, Venkatesh Iyer from FamyCare, and Lembit Rägo from WHO. More detail and access to the presentations made by the panel are online. |
| GEM/RH -- Newly-formed Coalition caucus taps generic manufacturers’ resources An important announcement was made at the market shaping panel presentation in Kuala Lumpur (see story above). A new caucus has been established within the Coalition: the Concept Foundation announced that the newly-formed Generic Manufacturers Caucus for Reproductive Health (GEM/RH) will expand the availability of high-quality, affordable, and safe reproductive health products. The group, comprising seven select generic pharmaceutical companies manufacturing throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe, provides a platform for generic manufacturers within the Coalition to address issues of mutual concern; ensure their views reach a global audience; and support new Coalition initiatives in the areas of market shaping, quality assurance, and reducing stockouts. Read more about this announcement here. |
| Global leaders commit to scaling up Pledge Guarantee for Health Leading global health and development experts have announced a new initiative to scale-up the Pledge Guarantee for Health (PGH), enabling it to increase the impact of each donor dollar and ultimately improve the health of millions of women and men helped by foreign aid. PGH uses bridge financing to expedite the disbursement of donor funds, thereby making global health supplies more accessible and more affordable for developing countries. The United States Agency for International Development and the Swedish International Agency for Development Cooperation are providing a five-year partial guarantee to help speed up the procurement of essential medicines and health supplies by governments and civil society partners. In collaboration with commercial banking partners, this partial guarantee enables PGH to access US$100 million in credit that, over five years, can mobilize tremendous lending capacity. Read the full story here. |
| Change in CARhs administration Many thanks are due to Joe Abraham from UNFPA for his time, leadership, and hard work over the past two years as the administrator of the Coordinated Assistance for RH supplies group (CARhs). During his tenure, he oversaw the expansion of the group both in terms of number of members and number of countries providing data for the Procurement Planning and Monitoring Report (PPMR). He ensured a seamless transition of the PPMR to an online database. Throughout his tenure, Joe has provided strategic vision and commitment to working together for a common goal. While Joe’s tenure as administrator is coming to an end, his continued participation will be critical to the future success of the CARhs and we at the Coalition look forward to working with him in this new capacity.
The responsibilities of the administrator will now be managed by the Coalition Secretariat’s Ellen Tompsett who can be reached at etompsett(at)rhsupplies.org. |
| First reproductive health API receives WHO prequalification Coalition member Qinhuangdao Zizhu Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (China) manufactures ethinylestradiol which was recently prequalified by the WHO Prequalification of Medicines Programme (PQP) under its API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) prequalification procedure. This is the first API prequalified in the therapeutic area of reproductive health. Qinhuangdao Zizhu has been supported throughout the process by technical experts and staff of another Coalition member, the Concept Foundation, under the RHSC’s Quality of Reproductive Health Medicines (QuRHM) programme. High-quality APIs are vital to the production of high-quality medicines, and ethinylestradiol is one of the main ingredients used in the manufacture of the most commonly used combined oral contraceptive (COC) pills. |
| Technical briefs The Coalition’s Caucus on New and Underused Reproductive Health Technologies has updated its peer-reviewed technical briefs on selected reproductive health technologies ranging from CycleBeads® to pregnancy tests for family planning. They can be found online. |
| Coalition welcomes 10 new members this month This brings the total membership to 240.-- Alliance pour la Recherche et le Renforcement des Capacités (ARECA), Togo -- Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), United States -- ONG Santé et Développement (SADEV) Niger -- Programme Intégré de Santé de Reproduction et Familiale (PISRF), Democratic Republic of Congo -- Association pour le Bien Etre Familiale Naissance Desirable (ABEF-ND), Democratic Republic of Congo -- Action et Développement (AcDev), Senegal -- People's Health Movement (PHM), Togo -- PT Tunggal Idaman Abdi (PT TIA), Indonesia -- Coalition Advancing Multipurpose Innovations (CAMI), United States -- China Reproductive Health Industry Association (CRHIA), China |
| Upcoming events
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Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition
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