Coordinating procurement planning using logistics data

In Kenya, several donors and other local and international agencies supply public and mission health facilities with commodities that fight HIV and AIDS. Frequently, donors use a parallel procurement and supply chain mechanism; without coordination there is a risk of duplication-of-effort in some areas, and gaps in other areas. Sharing key logistics data between providers benefits overall scale-up of HIV and AIDS programs. This paper describes efforts made by the Global Fund Procurement Consortium and the National AIDS and STD Coordination Program in Kenya to ensure that: · Logistics data is aggregated nationally and supplied to partner organizations regularly. · Information on ARV stocks between multiple providers is shared. · Action is taken to avoid duplication and stock-outs or over-stocks of HIV and AIDS commodities. · Commodity information is organized so that relevant information is available to policymakers.There should be one Logistics Management Information System that reports information to all donors. Every month, a minimal set of logistics data, consumption, months of stock-on-hand, and stocks-on-order in each facility, needs to be collected by all service providers. Monthly meetings of stakeholders must be held and information presented so gaps can be identified to ensure resources are available to meet all program needs. All service providers must be committed to the process and ensure reporting of minimal data sets across their programs. Procurement planning and coordination is enhanced when all providers are aware of entire country needs and can determine contributions that can be made to support the overall scale-up.