Health Commodities and Technologies

Abstract

Governance and leadership practices in primary health facilities play a significant role in the constant availability of health commodities. As countries move towards universal health coverage, ensuring that quality medicines at primary health facilities are available constantly is inevitable. Sustainable access to essential medical products, vaccines and technologies can hardly be realized without strong leadership and governance. When leadership and governance are ignored, it attracts corruption, diverts the resources from the targeted population and jeopardizes the quality of services provided. The potential for corruption exists in all levels of health systems, including primary healthcare. Corrupt actions can range from collusion in the procurement process to price-fixing with supplies and to leakages or diversion in the distribution chain. This chapter focuses on health commodities and technologies. The governance and leadership elements discussed to address the availability of health commodities in primary health facilities are transparency, accountability, equity and inclusiveness and participation. Two case scenarios are described with elaborate step-by-step details on how the health managers could use governance and leadership principles to address the problems identified.