Based in New Delhi, the UNOPS India Operations Centre currently manages three major projects: distributing H1N1 vaccines to developing countries on behalf of WHO, procuring medical goods for the Indian Government and combating child mortality with the Norway-India Partnership Initiative.

Distributing vaccines for WHO

To help developing countries protect their populations from pandemic influenza H1N1 infection, the World Health Organization (WHO) is coordinating the distribution of donated H1N1 vaccines.

On behalf of WHO, the UNOPS India office is shipping and distributing vaccines and ancillary products, such as syringes and cold boxes, to selected developing countries.

In each recipient country vaccines are being distributed to 10% of the population with a focus on health workers and other priority groups.

UNOPS has been selected to ship the vaccines to 94 countries, the vast majority of those selected by WHO, and the ancillary products to 60% of them, while ensuring a proper ‘cold chain’ during transit.

As of April 2010 almost 10 million vaccines, which have been donated by manufacturers, some developed countries and USAID had been supplied to 30 countries, with some 14.7 million doses on their way.

Health sector procurement for the Indian Government

UNOPS is helping the Government of India achieve the most efficient and transparent use of public funds in health procurement.

In a country of India’s size and spread, health procurement is a vast undertaking, requiring the management of large sums and the efficient delivery of vital goods. In 2007, to help overcome some of these challenges, the Government of India selected UNOPS to be a procurement agent for health sector goods, with a particular focus on combating HIV/AIDS, maternal care, malaria and tuberculosis.

UNOPS support has produced significant results for the Government of India. For example, UNOPS successfully prevented a syringe shortage crisis in the national immunization programme by using an emergency procedure to procure and deliver the necessary equipment in a record 30 days without an increase in price.

In 2009 UNOPS in India issued more than 50 international tenders for drugs and medical equipment to combat a range of diseases and diagnostic needs, with an average annual value of more than US$100 million. This has been achieved in a timely and cost-efficient manner in line with global quality standards.

In 2009 the project procured among other goods, more than two million bednets for the  malaria component of the National Vector Borne Disease programme, almost one million diagnostic kits for HIV, and Hepatitis and over 150 million doses of drugs.

Working closely with the National AIDS Control Organization within the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, one of the project’s goals is to develop national capacity, particularly in the areas of procurement planning, efficient management of the tender process and quality control.

The procurement has been funded by the Governments of India and the United Kingdom, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), and the World Bank.

Developing local capacity to reduce child mortality

Child and maternal health remains a major problem in India, with two million children under five dying in the country every year.
The Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) is designed to act as a catalyst supporting an existing Indian health programme, to help five focus states innovate and pilot new ways of delivering health services.

NIPI funds are not part of the formal state health budget, giving the focus states the freedom to experiment and test potential interventions on a small and manageable scale before rolling them out as official policy.

NIPI is run by a partnership between the focus states, the government, UNICEF, WHO and UNOPS. UNOPS serves as secretariat for NIPI, runs the ‘Child Health Resource Network’ and acts as Local Fund Agent for the focus states.

The five states have launched a range of programmes aimed at improving the health of pregnant women and newborns using funding channelled through UNOPS. These include training over 10,000 women to offer local postnatal support and building a dozen Sick Newborn Care Units.