HIV/AIDS

The SPS Program objectives in HIV/AIDS include—
Malawi’s antiretroviral therapy program has been successful in providing treatment to people living with AIDS; however, the Ministry of Health is widening the scope of the HIV/AIDS program to include second-line treatment, pediatric regimens, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission services.

With the expansion of services, the increasing demand on the HIV/AIDS-related supply chain requires streamlining certain pharmaceutical management functions and expanding links with other essential health care programs to leverage resources.








Malaria

The SPS Program objectives in malaria include—

• Providing technical assistance to government agencies, health facilities, and other stakeholders to strengthen antimalarial medicines management and implement a monitoring and evaluation system
• Building capacity in managing antimalarials through refresher trainings and supportive supervision of health care workers
• Working with the Pharmacy, Medicine and Poisons Board to strengthen systems for monitoring the quality and safety of medicines, including artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT)

In 2007, the RPM Plus Program focused its technical assistance on preparing Malawi’s pharmaceutical supply program to transition to ACT treatment policy, which officially launched in November 2007.

SPS continues to play a strong role in advocating for appropriate policies, regulations, quality assurance guidelines, pharmacovigilance systems, and practices that improve Malawi’s pharmaceutical system. We are a member of the Ministry of Health’s Malaria Technical Working Group, which oversees the ACT rollout in Malawi, and we provide technical assistance to the National Malaria Control Program through the task force’s pharmaceutical management, logistics, and drug safety subcommittee.