COVID-19

Accelerating Procurement of Approved Health Products under C19RM - COVID-19 Response Mechanism

03 September 2021

Principal Recipients are requested to accelerate the procurement of approved health products under C19RM awards through both Pooled Procurement Mechanism (PPM) and non-PPM channels to ensure rapid availability in their countries.

Principal Recipients of countries that received a C19RM award and have not yet placed orders or have any challenges in timely initiation of procurements should contact their Country Team as soon as possible to address any bottlenecks.

Timelines for PPM procurements:

  • The submission of the initial requisition is expected within seven days of the country receiving the Notification Letter (NL).
  • An additional 14 days are available for the conversion to a signed Purchase Order (PO) requiring multiple stakeholders to complete the necessary tasks timely.

This call for urgent action applies to all approved health product procurements, including outside of PPM, through approved national sourcing channels or non-PPM existing pooled procurement channels, such as the Global Drug Facility (GDF), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), UNICEF, UNDP and others.

More challenging procurements, like for oxygen pressure swing adsorption plants (PSA), require timely planning and execution, and technical assistance can be provided by in-country partners or financed through C19RM grants if needed, to avoid any start-up or procurement delays.

Principal Recipients are strongly urged to expedite all procurement preparations and initiation activities budgeted under Q4-2021. Expedited procurement enables timely delivery of necessary health products and laboratory equipment to support national COVID-19 responses. This includes preparations for repairs and refurbishment of pressure swing adsorption plants.

Principal Recipients are further required to fill in the C19RM Procurement Progress Reporting Template. More information on this template and timelines for submission to the Global Fund are available on this page. The Spanish and French versions of the template will also be available shortly.