Öffentliche Ausschreibung in Eschborn

The East African Community (EAC) region faces significant challenges in ensuring access to affordable and quality-assured medicines, a critical factor for public health security. Many Partner States import between 70% to 90% of their health commodities. This heavy dependence on imports strains public finances and weakens healthcare resilience, especially during global health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic when supply chains are disrupted. Strengthening local capacity is crucial to improving healthcare delivery and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 5 (Gender Equality). Limited availability and affordability of quality-assured Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) commodities further complicate the region's healthcare landscape. This gap negatively impacts maternal and neonatal health outcomes and heightens the risk of outbreaks of sexually transmitted infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B, and HPV. Improved access to SRH services and commodities would contribute to reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates and promote better sexual and reproductive health outcomes in the EAC. The region's vulnerability to infectious disease outbreaks, such as Mpox, Marburg, and Ebola, have heightened the need for a faster, coordinated emergency response. While recent improvements in stock management, forecasting, and collaboration with international partners have strengthened preparedness, challenges remain. Ensuring better access to essential health commodities, including those for SRHR, is vital in both emergency and non-emergency settings. In response to these challenges, the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) jointly aim for enhancing the availability of healthcare commodities in the EAC region. Both contributions align with the Team Europe Initiative on Sexual and Reproductive Health (TEI SRHR) and contribute to gender equality efforts