Public-Private Partnerships

The Sustainable Family Planning Providers Association (SFPPA)  also known as the FPPN, is a legally registered body. This is a unique model of public private partnership initiative comprising family planning providers from all the NURHI supported clinical High Volume Sites (HVS) and non-clinical FP providers made up of pharmacies  and patent medicine vendors (PMVs) in each city. Click here to view FPPN membership application form. A member is given an identification card which has its own unique number and photograph. Before the creation of this network, the providers in the NURHI four initial cities (Abuja, Kaduna, Ibadan and Ilorin) were working in silos. NURHI created the FPPN to establish a platform for these providers to interact in order to improve the quality of FP services through increased access and referrals.

Providers were consulted through their respective professional associations on the justification for the formation of the network. This led to a series of discussions around incentives (benefit for the providers joining the network) most of these incentives have been realized in the course of establishing the network and supporting it for sustainability.

The SFPPA has four main functions:

• Improving contraceptive logistics management for private and public sector providers.
• Improving the quality of FP services provided through a series of trainings in family planning service provision 
• Strengthening referrals between service delivery points i.e. PMVs, HVS and pharmacies.
• Increasing the access to and uptake of family planning services through branding and promotion.

Proactive FP Commodities Logistics Management through Public-Private Partnerships

The FPPN has been instrumental in improving the regular supply of contraceptives among its members through proactive commodities logistics management, which involves three interventions:

1. Provider capacity strengthening in FP logistics management:   NURHI trained 146 FPPN providers in contraceptive logistics management to improve forecasting and record keeping, and provided contraceptive logistics management system (CLMS) tools. NURHI Staff visit HVS and telephone FPPN providers at least once every two weeks to ask about logistics challenges such as low stock or the need for more CLMS forms.
2. NURHI Opportunity Stock:  USAID donated contraceptive commodities (Combination 3 oral contraceptive pills, Copper T Intrauterine Device, Jadelle Implants, and Depo Provera Injectible contraceptives) to NURHI for use as a buffer against stock-outs among FPPN members.  The stock is both branded and unbranded.   Unbranded stock is held by NURHI in each city.   In the event that one of the government HVS has a stock out, NURHI brings stocks to the facility to tide it over until government stocks arrive. NURHI also has a memorandum of understanding with the Society for Family Health (SFH) , the social marketing organization that sells and distributes socially marketed commodities in Nigeria, to distribute branded stock through wholesalers that are members of FPPN.  Branded  stock provided by USAID to NURHI is sold by the wholesalers as a priority to FPPN private sector members at controlled cost
3. SMS Commodity Tracking System:  The SMS Tracking System allows NURHI to track stock-outs on a regular basis for its The NURHI SMS commodity tracking system takes advantage of the fact that each provider has a personal mobile phone. This phone is used to send stock information from their CLMS forms into the NURHI monitoring system. Providers at HVS text their stock balance to NURHI on the 5th of the proceeding month.   If they experience stock-outs or low  they can text earlier. NURHI QI/SS Officers visit the health facility with opportunity stock for government providers.  If private sector HVS experiences a stock-out or low stock, the NURHI QI/SS Officer puts the provider in touch with a FPPN wholesaler for restocking.  This system gives information on how each facility (HVS) is faring as it pertains to their stock levels.
4. FPPN Branded Promotional Materials: Branding the FPPN sites allows for easy visibility and identification of FPPN members at the community level. These materials are given out during FPPN Advocacy visits, during FPPN meetings and during mentoring visits by NURHI technical team