Interventions and Commodities

“Pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria are the major causes of child mortality, accounting for 41% of deaths in the 68 Countdown to 2015 focus countries. The leading causes of maternal deaths are haemorrhage and hypertension, which together account for more than half of maternal deaths in the same 68 countries¹.

Most of maternal, newborn and child deaths can be prevented through coverage of cost effective interventions. The challenge for countries and their partners is to implement these interventions at scale and equitably.  These Interventions include drug treatments, procedures or non-medical inputs such as information on danger signs in pregnancy.  Existing interventions can improve women’s and children’s health in developing countries, especially when provided as packages which are combinations of single interventions.

Essential health commodities (i.e., medicines, vaccines, contraceptives, diagnostic kits, laboratory reagents, medical devices and other supplies and consumables) are necessary to provide priority reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health care interventions. The availability of medicines and supplies enables health-care providers to offer a better quality of care to women and children and makes the care more cost-effective².

Effective evidence-based interventions that can be delivered through proven delivery mechanisms are fundamental to improving RMNCH outcomes. Evidence on the effectiveness of interventions is readily available today. However, there is no classification of these interventions based on the strength of the evidence that prove their effectiveness and the soundness of their delivery mechanisms. In resource constrained areas, service providers should be in a position to identify and focus resources on delivering the most effective interventions.

As such the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) built a consensus on effective interventions for RMNCH, by identifying the RMNCH interventions whose effectiveness is supported by rigorous evidence and whose delivery mechanisms are proven. The restricted core set of RMNCH interventions, classified by the various levels of care³ is linked with an H4 developed list of key commodities needed for these interventions. These interventions and commodities hope to help guide commodity procurement to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health⁴.”