The SPS Program has received funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Regional Development Mission/Asia to support pharmaceutical management for tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS in China. One of the major challenges China is facing is how to ensure that the health systems in place can handle the growing population who requires treatment for multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB and HIV.

Tuberculosis 

SPS works closely with stakeholders at the national and local levels including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Chinese Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the National Center for Tuberculosis Control and Prevention (NCTB) to strengthen pharmaceutical management systems for TB and MDR-TB. SPS technical assistance activities for TB include monitoring outcomes of standard operating procedure (SOP) implementation, strengthening the electronic management information systems for TB and MDR-TB, and demonstrating SOP implementation progress and impact in international forums. 

SPS will continue to assist the NCTB in reviewing the existing information flow and identifying plausible methodologies for incorporating MDR- TB patient case management and pharmaceutical management programmatic needs into the existing management information system (MIS) and making technical contributions to the continued rollout of SOP training implementation.

HIV/AIDS  

SPS has been working closely with WHO/China and the CDC in Guangxi Zhang Autonomous Region to strengthen pharmaceutical management for HIV/AIDS. In December 2008, SPS reviewed pharmaceutical management operations at antiretroviral therapy (ART) and distribution sites in Guangxi Province and worked with stakeholders to develop an action plan for strengthening the antiretroviral (ARV) pharmaceutical management system.

Following a recent pharmaceutical management SOP workshop in Guangxi Province, SPS is working with key stakeholders to revise the draft SOP manual for managing ARV medicines based on existing systems and formats, and produce a draft for field testing.

As part of the SOPs, SPS is in the process of developing an electronic tool to allow for accurate quantification and forecasting needs of ARVs in the provincial level. It is end-user driven and data is captured at the pharmacy dispensing point. As the National Center for AIDS/STD (NCAIDS) is in the process of designing a management information system (MIS) for their HIV/AIDS program, this electronic tool can potentially be used to incorporate and adapt the pharmaceutical component of this MIS framework in China.

Once the manual and accompanying tools are completed, SPS will develop training materials and deliver a training workshop on general pharmaceutical management for ARV medicines and SOP implementation.