Reproductive Health Supplies

Why Reproductive Health Supplies?

Despite an increased demand for reproductive health supplies, donor support is fading and stagnating, and many national governments have not prioritized ensuring access. The lack of access to modern family planning is a key driver of the more than 60 million annual unintended pregnancies worldwide and the resulting yearly net increase in global population of 80 million people.^i,ii Providing modern contraceptives to fill this unmet need would avert an estimated 52 million unintended pregnancies each year, thereby preventing 142,000 pregnancy-related deaths; 505,000 children from losing their mothers, and 22 million induced abortions.ⁱⁱⁱ
 

Background

Shortages of critical reproductive health supplies (RH Supplies)  around the world are undermining progress towards achieving the Program of Action established at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo (1994)  and the poverty reduction targets included in the Millennium Development Goals .  The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has estimated that the funding gap could grow to US$ 737 million by 2015.  Without supplies, no health or poverty reduction program can be successful. From 1996 to 1999, bilateral and multilateral donor funding for RH supplies decreased from $172 million to $131 million, which led to haphazard shipments of supplies and distribution.

PAI's Leadership in Reproductive Health Supplies Advocacy

To meet this growing need for greater RH supplies awareness, PAI became one of the leaders on the issue of reproductive health supplies advocacy.  The Interim Working Group (IWG) on Reproductive Health Commodity Security was established as a collaborative effort between PAI, John Snow, Inc. (JSI), the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), and the Wallace Global Fund.  The IWG created the Meeting the Challenge report to form an evidence base on the importance of supplies. 

PAI sponsored an historic meeting in Istanbul in 2001, to share the IWG’s findings with key stakeholders in Reproductive Health supplies.  Bringing together representatives from donor countries, developing countries, and a variety of government and non-government organizations the meeting brought together various leaders to seek solutions to the looming contraceptive supply crisis.  A  critical part of the meeting was a “Call to Action” that not only raised awareness, increased support, and sought solutions to the crisis in RH supplies, but also included an extensive plan for tackling all of the major areas for improvement:

• Increased Advocacy
• Organizational and national level capacity building
• Funding and Financing Trends
• Donor coordination and harmonization

Outcomes

A major outcome of the meeting was the establishment of a core group of organizations to ensure the “Call to Action” was upheld. 

• Supply Initiative Phase I
• Supply Initiative Phase II: Project RMA