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Table 3 Policies and activities aimed at advancing the scale-up of DMPA-SC accelerated introduction in the country

From: Scale-up of the DMPA-SC in Nigeria: Why policy matters

 

Policy and activities

Startup-end date*

Year

Contribution to DMPA-SC scale-up

1

Approval and registration of DMPA-SC branded product by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for provider administration

 

2011

This regulatory endorsement paved the way for the legal use of DMPA-SC

2

Approval of DMPA-SC updated label to include an indication for self-injection

 

2016

Provided necessary information for the implementation of self-injection

3

National DMPA-SC accelerated introduction and scale-up plan

Feb 2017–Dec 2017

2018

Provided modalities for coordinating the activities of various stakeholders in the process of introducing and scaling up DMPA-SC

4

National guidelines for the introduction and scale-up of DMPA-SC self-injection

Oct 2018–Jan 2019

2019

Serves as a guide for the implementation of the DMPA-SC self-injection intervention

5

Revision of task-shifting/task-sharing policy

May 2018–Mar 2019

2019

The TSTS policies allowed the expansion of provider cadre that can administer injectables, inclusive of DMPA-SC. It allowed pharmacists, proprietary patent medicine vendors PPMVs, as well as community-based distributors to administer DMPA-SC

6

Inclusion of DMPA-SC in the Essential Medicines List (EML)

Sept 2017–Sept 2019

2019

The EML is the list of priority medicines, considered to be most effective, procured by the country to meet the healthcare needs in a health system [53]. Inclusion of DMPA-SC in both the prescriptive medicine and Patent and proprietary medicine vendors (PPMV) lists of the document. This review was to allow DMPA-SC to be listed as an essential medicine so it can form part of the national procurement, and also allow dispensing in Nigeria

7

Inclusion of DMPA-SC in the Approved Patent Medicines List (APML)

July 2018–Dec 2019

2019

The APML, a list of medicines that licensed PPMVs are legally allowed to stock and dispense [54], gave policy backing for DMPA-SC to be stocked and dispensed by PPMVs

8

The Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) 2019–2023 was created and it included DMPA-SC

Mar 2019–Dec 2020

2019

This is aimed at ensuring the integration of DMPA-SC into broader Family Planning programming/reducing siloed support

  1. *These dates reflect when input into the policies was completed not the launch dates. In most cases, implementation of the policies had begun before they were launched