Effective, lifesaving health products often do not reach the people who need them the most, including technologies that prevent HIV, treat malaria, prevent unwanted pregnancies and reduce maternal deaths. Over the past several decades, substantial investments have been made to reduce the time it takes to introduce and scale up health innovations in low-resource settings. FHI 360 has a long track record of implementing solutions to bridge the gaps between research, product introduction and scale-up. Leveraging our global network of staff, we collaborate with diverse stakeholders to accelerate and expand access to critical health technologies.
Strategic approach
Our efforts to introduce and scale access to products build on three core strengths:
- Facilitating collaboration within complex systems: FHI 360 collaborates with donors, normative bodies, governments, regulators, manufacturers, service delivery groups, health care providers, communities and end users. We may act as a neutral convener or as a product champion, depending on the product and context, as we work to support the development and rollout of cost-efficient, multisectoral strategies for new health innovations.
- Providing technical leadership from product design to delivery: FHI 360’s experience includes leading preclinical and clinical phases of new product development. Once a product is ready for market launch, our work includes: 1) leading user/market assessments; 2) supporting regulatory approvals and associated commercial planning; 3) developing policies, plans and budgets for introduction; 4) designing and evaluating cost-effective service delivery approaches; and 5) conducting post-marketing research and evaluation.
- Ensuring rapid learning to achieve impact: FHI 360 has more than 40 years of experience conducting research, synthesizing evidence and rapidly translating findings into practice. We share lessons across stakeholder groups, developing resources to fill gaps and facilitate cross-country, cross-project learning to improve the quality and efficiency of health product introduction and scale-up. We leverage our country platforms to facilitate the integration of health innovations in public and private sectors.
Technical expertise
FHI 360 has extensive experience supporting the building and strengthening of markets for a wide range of health innovations, including contraceptives, HIV prevention technologies, malaria treatments and maternal health interventions. Examples include:
- Contraceptive methods: Sino-implant/Levoplant; DMPA-SC; hormonal IUS
- HIV prevention technologies: HIV self-testing, antiretroviral treatment, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
- Malaria treatments: mass drug administration of azithromycin, seasonal malaria chemoprevention
- Maternal health interventions: Uterine balloon tamponade, low-cost pregnancy tests
- Market Development and Product Introduction (fact sheet)