News Releases

Wambo.org to Bring Better Access, Prices, Transparency to Global Health

25 May 2016

GENEVA - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Government of Canada announced a new online marketplace today that is projected to save at least US$250 million in the coming four years by offering health implementers competitive prices for medicines and health commodities.

Simple and accessible, wambo.org provides up-to-date information on available products, prices, expected delivery time and tracking. Buyers and suppliers can use it as a safe and reliable tool for procuring quality-assured goods in less time and with lower financial risk.

Wambo.org also allows orders to be pooled, enabling even smaller buyers to achieve economies of scale for substantial savings. With an easy-to-use platform, it is set up to be an effective procurement tool for governments and civil society organizations that implement health grants, significantly supporting the common goal of building resilient and sustainable systems for health.

"Canada is taking concrete action to end for good three of the world's most devastating diseases - AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria - by 2030," said Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canada's Minister of International Development and La Francophonie. "By investing in wambo.org, Canada is leveraging technology to simplify procurement and create significant savings. This innovative platform allows countries to improve efficiency and deliver medicines and health products that will save lives."

The Government of Canada is contributing CAD19 million (US$14.5 million) to help build and expand wambo.org. Canada, a leader in many aspects of global health, is also hosting the Global Fund's Fifth Replenishment in Montreal in September 2016. UNITAID and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) are also strategic partners in supporting the development of wambo.org.

Wambo.org is open to all implementing partners with a Global Fund procurement agreement, and will gradually be made available to others as well. Any suppliers who meet Global Fund standards for product quality are welcome to join, large or small, starting with those that have been awarded contracts following pooled procurement mechanism tenders.

"This is a terrific tool to access more affordable medicines and health commodities," said Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund. "By saving money, wambo.org is an innovative way to enable health providers to reach more people."

Wambo.org began operations earlier this year, and is already delivering cost savings and reliable delivery to participating partners. As it gradually grows and operates at greater volume, it is likely to drastically improve effective delivery and reduce procurement bottlenecks. It will be available to serve countries and partners in global health into the future, with a simplified and sustainable tool, owned by all those who use it as a 'global public good.'