Quantification of Health Commodities Guidelines

This document was made possible by the support of the American people through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under the contract number 7200AA18C00074. The contents are the responsibility of Health and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. The goal of the USAID MTaPS is to enable low- and middle-income countries to strengthen their pharmaceutical systems, ensuring sustainable access to and use of safe, effective, quality-assured, and affordable essential medicines and pharmaceutical services. The MTaPS result areas include strengthening pharmaceutical sector governance, increasing institutional and human resource capacity for pharmaceutical management and services, including regulation of medical products, increasing availability and use of health information for decision-making, advancing the global learning agenda, optimizing pharmaceutical-sector financing, and improving pharmaceutical services to achieve desired health outcomes. The Quantification of Health Commodities Guidelines is a critical component of the MTaPS program, aiming to provide a framework for quantifying health commodities. The guidelines outline the key steps in the quantification process, including planning and preparation, consultative quantification, forecasting, supply planning, funding gap analysis, validation, dissemination, and dissemination of results, and finalization of procurement plans. The guidelines also provide practical application of the quantification process, including conducting quantification to inform procurement plans and procurement activities. Additionally, the guidelines outline the selection of quantification methods, including consumption and morbidity methods, and provide minimum standards for quantification of health products. The guidelines emphasize the importance of accurate quantification of health commodities to ensure that patients have access to essential medicines and pharmaceutical services. The guidelines also highlight the need for effective inventory management, including inventory management is the process of maintaining inventory data on the quantity, location, and condition of supplies and equipment due to determine quantities of items available and/or for issue and to facilitate the management of material. The guidelines provide a comprehensive framework for quantifying health commodities, including the definition of terms such as average monthly consumption, consumption, days out of stock, essential medicines, and inventory management. The guidelines also outline the importance of lead time, lead time is the period between when the need for new stock is recognized and when new stock has arrived and is available for issue, and the need for effective ordering and inventory management to ensure that patients have access to essential medicines and pharmaceutical services. The guidelines are intended to provide a framework for quantifying health commodities, and the Department of Health and Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program is committed to supporting the implementation of the guidelines and ensuring that patients have access to essential medicines and pharmaceutical services.