Integration, country ownership key to improving commodities supply, distribution

Noting the U.N. Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children on Wednesday "released 10 bold recommendations which, if achieved, will ensure women and children will have access to 13 life-saving commodities," Jennifer Bergeson-Lockwood, a maternal health adviser with USAID, writes in USAID's "IMPACTblog" that the agency is working "to integrate systems across commodities to better and more efficiently serve women and children everywhere, and scale up programs to have nation-wide impact." She adds, "Country leadership is also a vital component to successfully addressing many of the Commission's recommendations." Saying that integration and country ownership "form the cornerstones of our work," she continues, "With our host country partners in the lead, we are working to strengthen supply chains for commodities, which include use of mHealth solutions; support local market shaping; improve the quality of medicines; and increase demand by mothers for necessary medicines" (9/26).