At IHP, we are embedding the Core Humanitarian Standard as our model for humanitarian response and we have recently started the self-assessment process to help with identifying areas for further improvement.

We are committed to the Sphere Minimum Standards in Disaster Response. For example, we adapt national essential medicines lists to the emergency, have a system in place to report adverse medical events, and only accept medical donations when internationally recognised guidelines are followed.

IHP recognises the UN and partners’ Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) commitments to accountability to affected populations, and we are in the process of reviewing our monitoring and evaluation systems so that we can improve the ways we support and encourage our NGO partners to gather feedback from local medical teams, pharmacists and patients. We also conduct periodic project visits and actively meet these groups to gather input.

IHP is a signatory to the World Health Organization Guidelines for Medicine Donation. We also belong to PQMD (the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations) and are a signatory of the IFRC Code of Conduct (as detailed on its website). In the UK, the Department For International Development (DFID) has approved us as a Rapid Response Facility partner.

We are committed to vigorous and accountable Good Distribution Practice (GDP) and we are fully compliant with legislation surrounding medicine supply chains, including the EU Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD).