Background: Nigeria's modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) increased from 9.8% (2013) to 12% (2018), however family planning (FP) unmet need high at 19%. To address this, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) led the introduction of new Reproductive Health (RH) commodities in the country. Previous RH product introductions had been largely partner driven and fragmented resulting in inefficient and expensive introductions. in the process leading to expensive and unstable capacity building practices, poor supply planning and availability of commodities and healthcare worker fatigue.
Methods: Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in 2021 collaborated with the FMOH to conduct a RH landscape assessment in six states: Bauchi, Enugu, Kaduna, Lagos, Rivers, and the FCT to understand the challenges, successes and lessons learnt from previous RH introductions. In addition to in depth review of local and global RH product introduction literature, the assessment spanned both pubic and private sectors utilizing Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with 23 key decision makers and interviews with FP providers and clients at 50 healthcare facilities.
Results: Lack of national guidelines delineating roles and responsibilities for product introductions, limited stakeholder coordination and need for improved coordination between government and partners. To address this, CHAI is collaborating with the FMOH to develop a national best practice guideline which highlights key steps and roles for RH product introductions. Stronger government ownership and leadership in RH product introduction through the RH Product Introduction and Coordination Mechanism (PICM) which engages partners and ensures alignment in private and public sectors.
Conclusion: The guideline is essential to ensuring seamless product introductions, mitigate poor sequencing of activities which lead to inefficiencies and wastage of resources. It also provides clarity to the roles and responsibilities of various actors for product introduction, strengthening coordination between private and public sector partners which guarantees alignment of goals and strategies and ensure sustainability.
