Washington, D.C. — As part of our ongoing work supporting country governments and local change agents with health financing, market shaping and procurement, Results for Development (R4D) has made public its internal Quality-Assured Supplier List (QASL) for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) products.
Access to quality MNCH products — such as prenatal iron folic acid supplements, as well as oxytocin and misoprostol for postpartum hemorrhage — is essential for healthy pregnancies, safe child deliveries, and comprehensive postpartum and newborn care; however, determining which products and suppliers meet internationally recognized quality standards can be difficult and time-consuming for government and health officials involved in financing and procurement.
“What should be a simple task — understanding which products are quality-assured — can require searching across dozens of databases,” R4D Associate Director Samantha Durdock said. “This new tool reduces that complexity and supports better decision-making for those working to expand access to life-saving MNCH products.”
As donor funding for health commodities declines and countries are asked to mobilize more domestic resources, identifying suppliers with quality-assured products is more important than ever.
That’s why R4D is making this information easier to access with its Quality-Assured Supplier List. For the first time, this data and information from multiple sources have been consolidated into a clear, searchable list of suppliers whose MNCH products have been quality-assured by globally recognized entities, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) Prequalification Programme or Stringent Regulatory Authorities (SRAs).
The QASL is designed to support:
- Health and government officials, by simplifying supplier due diligence in procurement
- Policymakers, by providing a reliable evidence base for decision-making
- Advocates and implementing partners, by strengthening efforts to improve access to quality products
“Too often, the difference between life and loss comes down to whether a mother or child can reliably access affordable and quality-assured health products. Collaborating with our country partners to shape more transparent, efficient and equitable markets is essential to changing that reality. This list reflects R4D’s broader commitment to working together with governments and local leaders to imagine health systems of the future, so that access to quality-assured products is not a privilege but a guarantee,” said Bhavya Gowda, R4D Market Shaping Practice Lead.
By making the Quality-Assured Supplier List publicly available, R4D seeks to reduce barriers to information, helping partners across the MNCH ecosystem save time and resources while improving the reliability of supply.
