Pharmaceutical Management: Our Impact

Namibia: Pharmacy Assistants Trained to Deliver Quality HIV and AIDS Pharmaceutical Services

January 27, 2016
{Photo: SIAPS Namibia, September 2015}Martin Mandumbwa, PA, dispensing medicines to a patient at Robert Mugabe Clinic in Windhoek, Namibia.Photo: SIAPS Namibia, September 2015

Namibia faces a high burden of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, with an estimated 13.1 percent of the adult population living with HIV. To help address this critical national health concern, the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) has been receiving technical assistance from the Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program, with funding from the US President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), through US Agency for International Development (USAID), and led by Management Sciences for Health (MSH).

QuanTB Helps Ensure Medicines Availability, Averts Waste, and Saves Money in Bangladesh

December 02, 2015
{Photo credit: Loren Gomes/SIAPS}Photo credit: Loren Gomes/SIAPS

Curbing the spread of tuberculosis (TB) requires that patients have uninterrupted access to a full course of treatment—frequently a difficult task in developing country settings considering that each regimen includes multiple medicines taken over the span of several months. These may need to be customized based on the type of TB being treated and the patient’s reaction to the prescribed combination. The emergence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDRTB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDRTB) further complicates the management of TB medicines.

Working 'Miracles' for Drug Supply Advances Reproductive Health in Gulu, Uganda

May 28, 2015
{Photo credit: Anicia Filda/RHU Gulu}Reproductive Health Uganda's Gulu Branch Health Center, Uganda.Photo credit: Anicia Filda/RHU Gulu

Located in northern Uganda, Reproductive Health Uganda’s (RHU) Gulu Branch Health Center (Gulu) is one of the busiest clinics in the country—serving over 25,000 clients with sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services per month. When demand for SRH services outpaced Gulu’s supply of sexually transmitted infection (STI) drugs and other essential medicines, the clinic could not continue offering essential SRH services to many who needed them, threatening the equitable access to health care in the community.

Piloting Portable Mini-Laboratory Kits in Afghanistan

May 28, 2015
{Photo credit: Jamshid Noori/SPS Afghanistan}The GPHF-Minilab™ is fully adapted to resource-limited settings as a tool for pharmaceutical quality improvement.Photo credit: Jamshid Noori/SPS Afghanistan

Twenty-five staff from key pharmaceutical regulation stakeholders in Afghanistan completed a comprehensive training in March and April 2015 on the Global Pharma Health Fund’s GPHF-Minilab™ and its use. The GPHF-Minilab is a portable mobile mini-laboratory kit designed for rapid medicine-quality verification and counterfeit medicine detection in resource-limited environments.

Leadership Development Program Strengthens Laboratory Associations in Nigeria

May 27, 2015
{Photo credit: Gwenn Dubourthoumieu - Niger State, Nigeria}A Minna hospital employee checks a blood sample for HIV.Photo credit: Gwenn Dubourthoumieu - Niger State, Nigeria

To increase country ownership and sustainability of laboratory services and programs, the USAID-funded Prevention Organizational Systems AIDS Care and Treatment (Pro-ACT) project, led by MSH, identified the need to develop the program leadership and management capacity of local medical laboratory associations in Nigeria. 

Coaching and Logistics Mentorship Improve Pharmaceutical Services in Tanzania

May 26, 2015
{Photo: Michael Bajile/MSH-Tanzania}Vincent Nanai conducts routine inventory in the Bariadi District pharmacy store.Photo: Michael Bajile/MSH-Tanzania

As a pharmacist with the Bariadi Council Health Management Team in Tanzania’s Lake Zone, Vincent Nanai is responsible for ensuring that all 23 public health facilities supported by the council are stocked with essential commodities. However, prior to Nanai’s training from the US Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Tibu Homa project, many public health facilities within the Lake Zone frequently ran out of medicines and supplies.

Rising to the Challenge: Developing the Pharmaceutical Leadership Development Program in South Africa (Video)

May 26, 2015
{Video screenshot}MSH and partners developed the Pharmaceutical Leadership Development Program (PLDP) in South Africa in 2011.Video screenshot

Strong leadership and management are important factors in the delivery of quality health services, efficient use of resources, and achievement of positive health outcomes.

Global Leadership on Maternal Health Medicines: A Conversation with Beth Yeager

March 31, 2015
{Photo credi: Warren Zelman}Democratic Republic of the Congo.Photo credi: Warren Zelman

We spoke with Management Sciences for Health (MSH)’s Beth Yeager, MHS, Principal Technical Advisor, Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) program, and Chair, Maternal Health Supplies Caucus, Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, about MSH’s global technical leadership on improving access to maternal health medicines and commodities. MSH serves as an active member of the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children (UNCoLSC) and the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition. Beth Yeager

Ensuring Continuous Supply of HIV Drugs to Affected Communities in Côte d’Ivoire: SCMS in Brief

February 26, 2015
{Photo credit: SCMS/Côte d’Ivoire}Côte d’Ivoire’s central medical store unloading supplies at the docking station.Photo credit: SCMS/Côte d’Ivoire

The Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) has been providing technical assistance since 2005 to Côte d’Ivoire’s central medical store, the Pharmacie de la Sante Publique (PSP)—later re-named the Nouvelle PSP (NPSP)—to strengthen the management of products in the health system. SCMS is a project under the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) administered by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Improving Supply Chain Management for Malaria: Lessons from Angola

January 27, 2015
{Photo courtesy: SIAPS Angola}National Malaria Control Program and SIAPS staff doing inventory control during a field visit.Photo courtesy: SIAPS Angola

In Angola, the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP)’s 2013 annual report suggests that malaria alone represents 35 percent of all curative treatment demands, 20 percent of hospital admissions, 40 percent of perinatal deaths, and 25 percent of maternal deaths. Universal and continuous availability of recommended artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) and rapid diagnosis tests (RDTs) are a critical prerequisite for the effective management of clinical malaria.

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