Managing contraceptive supply

Record keeping and reporting

Record keeping and reporting is one way that an organisation can keep track of patterns of contraceptive use amongst its clients. Keeping records and preparing and analysing reports are effective ways to determine clients' needs and their use patterns, without doing a formal programme evaluation. Good examples of this are stock on hand (by method and brand), and consumption/distribution (by method and brand), both of which can be easily collected and analysed on a routine basis. This information can be collected by using simple Health Management Information System (HMIS) records, forms and reports.

Types of recording forms

Inventory control card (ICC): This form should be kept at all storage facilities that manage a significant number of inventory items. The purpose of the ICC is to have an up-to-date and continuous record, in one location, of all transactions for each item in the inventory.

Daily activity register (DAR): The register is designed to be used when contraceptives are dispensed to family planning clients. It provides a daily log of the number of client visits, subdivided by the types and quantities of contraceptives dispensed to each client on a monthly basis. When a new month begins, service providers should begin a new DAR. The DAR should be totalled on a monthly and quarterly basis.

Quarterly report/requisition: This form serves several purposes. It provides summary information from the DAR and ICC concerning the number and types of clients served, and quantities of each type of contraceptive received and dispensed over a three-month period.

Inventory control system

The average monthly consumption (AMC) is equivalent to one month's supply. It is usually the monthly average of the quantity of that product that has been dispensed to users during the past three or six months. Information on the quantities dispensed is taken from the DAR or summary reports of dispensed-to-user data (see figure below).

Assessing your supply status

To make sure your supplies are adequate, do the following calculation for each of your contraceptive products:

This calculation will tell you how long your current supply will last if consumption stays at the current rate. If the months of supply in your stocks are less than the time remaining before your next delivery of supplies, then you may need to arrange for an emergency delivery (see table below).

Example of a month's supply in stock for four contraceptive products.