WHO Procurement Opportunities: How to Get Prequalified

WHO procurement covers global health goods, medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, and medical devices, bought for use across its 194 member states. For many product categories, suppliers must go through WHO prequalification, a rigorous assessment of quality and safety, before their products can be purchased. This guide explains how WHO buys and how to access these opportunities.

How WHO procurement works

The World Health Organization procures health products both for its own programmes and to support procurement by member states and partners. Because WHO operates globally and often in resource-limited settings, its procurement emphasises quality, safety, and value above all. WHO is also a key reference point for other UN agencies and global health funders.

What is WHO prequalification?

Prequalification (PQ) is WHO's process for assessing whether medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, and certain devices meet international standards of quality, safety, and efficacy. Once a product is prequalified, it appears on a published list that procurement agencies worldwide rely on. Prequalification is effectively a passport to global health markets, many large buyers, including Gavi, UNICEF, and The Global Fund, will only purchase prequalified products.

Which products need prequalification?

• Medicines, particularly for HIV, TB, malaria, reproductive health, and essential medicines
• Vaccines, assessed for use in national immunisation programmes
• In vitro diagnostics, tests for priority diseases
• Vector control products, such as insecticide-treated nets

How to get prequalified

The process varies by product type, but generally involves:

• Submitting a dossier with detailed quality, safety, and efficacy data
• Site inspection of your manufacturing facilities against international standards (e.g. GMP)
• Product testing by WHO-approved laboratories
• Ongoing compliance, prequalification must be maintained, not just achieved once

Prequalification is demanding and can take time, but it unlocks access to a large, stable global market that values quality over lowest price.

Finding WHO opportunities

Beyond prequalification, WHO and related agencies publish specific tenders and calls for expressions of interest. The challenge is that these are spread across WHO's own channels and partner organisations like UNICEF Supply Division, Gavi, and The Global Fund, there's no single unified feed.

The bigger picture

For a supplier active in global health, WHO is just one of several markets. You may also sell into Europe (TED Europa), the US (SAM.gov), and the UK (NHS). Monitoring all of these by hand is exactly the kind of fragmented work that leads to missed opportunities.

How HealthProcure Intel helps

HealthProcure Intel aggregates WHO procurement data with TED Europa, SAM.gov, and NHS Supply Chain in one normalised API and dashboard. You can search global health opportunities alongside EU, US, and UK tenders, filter by category and region, and get alerts when new opportunities match your products. Start free, no credit card required.

Frequently asked questions

Is WHO prequalification mandatory to sell globally?

Not for every product, but for many priority medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics, major global buyers will only purchase prequalified products.

How long does prequalification take?

It varies by product and the completeness of your dossier, but it is a thorough process that can take many months.

Who relies on the WHO prequalification list?

Global health funders and procurers such as UNICEF, Gavi, and The Global Fund, along with many national procurement agencies.