Data partnership with Maisha Meds

Private sector channels account for over 50% of the delivery of health services in Africa, including SRH products. Yet, we have limited visibility into what products are provided and bought and at what volumes and prices. SEMA is working with partners, including Maisha Meds (https://maishameds.org), to identify cost-effective strategies to gather this information. In 2022, SEMA invested in Maisha Meds to explore the potential application and usefulness of health commodity export data from different regions to understand the movement of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and finished pharmaceutical products (FPPs). The main objective is to evaluate how this data could be validated and compared to other public and private data sources to better estimate the volume of products flowing to the commercial sector.

SEMA and Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC - https://www.rhsupplies.org/) share a common goal of enhancing SRH markets to cater to the needs of consumers. Consequently, they have created an MOU highlighting collaborations on various fronts. In March 2023, SEMA became an official member of RHSC. Both organizations are particularly interested in improving routine access and use of data to identify SRH market challenges and take action. Hence, SEMA's initial venture in 2023 was to invest in RHSC's Visibility and Analytics Network (GFPVAN), which offers visibility into public sector supply and demand data and the analytics capabilities required. Furthermore, RHSC and SEMA are exploring opportunities to bring together country and global partners to prioritize SRH market shortcomings and effectively coordinate activities to overcome barriers and improve market access.