Health Product Distribution Coverage Monitoring Survey in Rural Areas of Nepal

Background:

In Nepal, SHOPS Plus supports the goals of USAID and the government of Nepal to increase the use of and access to family planning and other health products. To this end, SHOPS Plus supports the Nepal Contraceptive Retail Sales Company (CRS) to market and distribute family planning, maternal, and child health products in retail outlets in 50 rural districts as part of the Ghar Ghar Maa Swasthya (GGMS) or “Healthy Homes,” project. CRS is committed to improving family planning and maternal and child health outcomes in hard-to-reach rural areas. To do this effectively, CRS needed to accurately monitor whether retail outlets in GGMS districts were stocking CRS products and promotional materials. This survey measured the availability and accessibility of family planning, maternal, and child health products, both CRS and non-CRS brands, in CRS’s six GGMS supervision areas.

Objectives/research questions:

• Assess product availability for oral contraceptives, injectable contraceptives, condoms, oral rehydration salts, zinc, sanitary napkins, and water purification tablets, both CRS and non-CRS brands
• Assess product access for oral contraceptives, injectable contraceptives, condoms, oral rehydration salts, zinc, sanitary napkins, and water purification tablets, both CRS and non-CRS brands
• Collect basic information on outlets in CRS supervision areas (e.g. operating hours, employee age, sex, and education level)

Methods: 

The study used Lot Quality Assurance Sampling to estimate health product availability and accessibility in the GGMS districts. SHOPS Plus randomly selected a small sample of wards in each of CRS’ six supervision areas. In all outlets in each ward, data collectors gathered information on product availability, frequency of stock outs, presence of CRS brand promotional materials, and outlet characteristics. Outlets included pharmacies, general stores, grocery stores, paan/cigarette shops, and small stores run out of homes.

CRS used this information to inform its marketing and distribution strategies and to direct its resources towards improvements in areas with lower product availability and accessibility.

relevant Resources:

• Evidence-based social marketing in Afghanistan and Nepal: Using data to improve efficiency and effectiveness

Status: Completed
Last updated: October 2020

Learn more about our work in Nepal and pharmaceutical partnerships and social marketing, family planning,  and child health.

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