Access to essential maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition (MNCH-N) products is limited in many countries — not only because of supply or funding challenges, but also due to a lack of clear, accessible information about which products and suppliers meet international quality standards. This lack of transparency can slow down procurement processes and lead to inconsistent product quality.
For central procurement agencies, ministries of health, development partners, and donors working to improve access to MNCH-N products, identifying which suppliers are providing products that have been evaluated and approved by a rigorous quality assurance mechanism — such as WHO Prequalification or approval from a Stringent Regulatory Authority — can be a confusing and time-consuming process. This makes it challenging to identify and procure from quality-assured suppliers.
To help address this, Results for Development (R4D) is sharing our internal MNCH-N Quality Assured Supplier List (QASL) with the broader community — a curated database that we hope will improve market transparency and save others countless hours of research.
The QASL includes suppliers of maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition (MNCH-N) products that have:
- Received WHO Prequalification,
- Been approved by a Stringent Regulatory Authority, or
- Been procured by UN agencies such as UNICEF or UNFPA.
Originally developed as part of R4D’s MNCH-N Market Assessments in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria, the QASL is now being made public to support more informed procurement and planning across the global health community.
The QASL aims to:
- Increase market transparency and efficiency by reducing information gaps around supplier quality assurance
- Support informed decision-making around product registration and procurement of quality-assured products
