4 Condom and Lubricant Programming
4.2.1 Establishing accessible male and female condom and lubricant supplies for sex workers
An effective supply chain ensures that the right quality product, in the right quantity and in the right condition, is delivered to the right place at the right time, for a reasonable cost. A supply chain typically has the following major components:
• forecasting to ensure a reliable supply of condoms and lubricants
• procurement of high-quality male and female condoms and lubricants consistent with sex workers’ needs and wants
• quality assurance at all levels 8
• warehousing and storage of condoms in a way that maintains the integrity of the commodities and their supply chain
• distribution to providers and other outlets to serve sex workers’ needs
• logistics management information system( LMIS) to support informed decision-making and planning
Effective, comprehensive condom programming can only be achieved under the following conditions:
• The process is ideally led and owned by the government in partnership with implementing partners and sex worker organizations, and efforts are coordinated through sound leadership at the national level.
• Government-led efforts are informed by collaboration with condom and lubricant users, including sex workers.
• Demand for condoms and lubricants is created and sustained.
• Adequate supplies of high-quality condoms and lubricants are available and distributed widely.
• Advocacy and capacity-building are carried out to ensure the sustainability of the programme over the long term.
Accurate condom and lubricant supply planning requires forecasting exercises that are based primarily on regular consumption data supplemented with data on service provision, demographic and morbidity data, estimates of population mobility and programme plans.( See Section 4.4 for guidance on contraceptive forecasting, including condoms). National condom programmes should work closely with organizations that serve sex workers to request regular( monthly, bimonthly or quarterly) reports of condom consumption data, defined as the actual quantities of condoms that have been distributed to sex workers within a specified period. Where a functioning LMIS exists, organizations working with sex workers should be incorporated into the LMIS to report condom and lubricant consumption data and changing needs.
Government-led“ comprehensive condom programmes” should actively involve sex worker-led organizations and civil-society organizations in condom and lubricant supply forecasting, market segmentation, condom and lubricant distribution and product promotion. In addition, empowering sex worker-led organizations to play an active role in the distribution of condoms and lubricants in sex worker communities is essential to enabling community members to access and use condoms. With direct access to the population being served, sex worker organizations are key distribution points for
8 For more information on quality assurance testing as well as proper storage of condoms in warehouses, see the WHO / UNFPA / FHI publication Male Latex Condom: Specification, Prequalification and Guidelines for Procurement, 2010 listed in Section 4.4.
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