Strategy for Pooled Procurement of Essential Medicines and Health Commodities, 2013-2017 INTRODUCTION The SADC Strategy for Pooled Procurement of Essential Medicines and Health Commodities provides an overall mechanism for achieving one of the key priorities of the SADC Pharmaceutical Business Plan, which was approved in 2007. The aim of the Strategy for Pooled Procurement of Essential Medicines and Health Commodities, 2013-2007 is to facilitate regional cooperation in the procurement of essential medicines and health commodities, thus ensuring access to affordable, safe, effective and quality-assured products. The Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) common agenda includes promoting: “sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development that will ensure poverty alleviation with the ultimate objective of its eradication, enhance the standard and quality of life of the people of Southern Africa and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration”. SADC’s integration agenda prioritises social and human development, including fostering cooperation, in addressing health challenges that are influenced by the high burden of communicable diseases such as HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. Prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes is rapidly increasing. Global and regional health declarations and targets informed the development of the SADC Health Programme, which was developed in 1997. The Programme is underpinned by three key policy documents:

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3*4%1  Equitable access to adequate healthcare services remains a challenge in the region. SADC has identified the need to develop and implement a Pharmaceutical Programme in line with the SADC Protocol on Health and the SADC Health Policy. The purpose of this programme is to enhance the capacities of Member States to effectively prevent and treat diseases that are of major concern to public health in the region. The specific objective of the Pharmaceutical Programme is to improve “sustainable availability and access to affordable, quality, safe efficacious essential medicines”. The SADC Pharmaceutical Business Plan was approved in 2007. The plan sets out the priorities and focus for the SADC Pharmaceutical Programme, a unit within the SADC Social and Human Development and Special Programmes (SHD&SP) Directorate. The priorities of the SADC Pharmaceutical Business Plan includes:





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effective and affordable. The Strategy for Pooled Procurement reflects issues that go beyond the mandate of the health sector. Issues relating to trade (customs procedures and tariffs, for example), legislation, procurement, financing and investments must also be addressed to facilitate the movement of essential medicines and health commodities across the region. In this regard, a combined effort is needed across SADC to include the relevant sectors and Ministries (such as Health, Trade, Finance, etc.) in order to enhance the seamless circulation of essential medicines within SADC. The process for developing this Strategy dates back to 1999. In 2010, a drafting team was established to finalise the drafting of the Strategy. The team completed an assessment of pharmaceutical procurement systems across SADC Member States in August 2011. The findings, together with a desk review of the SADC pharmaceutical marketplace, were used to draft the SADC Pooled Procurement of Essential Medicines and Medical Supplies Situational Analysis and Feasibility study. This study form the basis of the recommended options for the SADC Pooled Procurement Strategy for 7