Innovative Financing Approaches for Increasing Pharmacy Inventory

Private pharmacies and drug shops are important providers of family planning products in many low- to middle-income countries. This brief explores ways to expand access to finance for both. It explains the role of private pharmacies and drug shops within the family planning and health commodity supply chain; identifies how lack of access to financing constrains their ability to contribute to health outcomes; and provides an overview of their financing needs. It then presents a case study on programming in Nigeria designed to address these needs and concludes with recommendations for future programming to expand their access to financing. This brief consolidates learning from two projects—USAID-funded Sustaining Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) Plus and a predecessor, Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector Nigeria project (SHOPS Nigeria)—about approaches that have yielded positive results to increase financing along the supply chain for family planning commodities.