Month: August 2015

SIAPS Publishes Manual on the Development and Implementation of Standard Treatment Guidelines

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A new manual published by the USAID-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program aims to guide health care professionals in the development and implementation of standard treatment guidelines (STGs). STGs are designed to assist health care professionals in making decisions about appropriate, effective patient care. However, health managers often have trouble … Read more

Piloting Framework Agreements for Procurements in Ukraine

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The introduction of framework agreements for the 2015 public health care procurements in the Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts of Ukraine reduces the risk of stock-out and helps employees more efficiently use their time by creating more flexible, shorter procurement procedures, while decreasing the opportunity for corruption. These framework agreements, the first to be used for … Read more

The WHO Essential Medicines and Health Products Information Portal Survey

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The World Health Organization Essential Medicines and Health Products (EMP) Information Portal supports efforts to improve access to essential medicines and health products by making nearly 5000 medicines and health products related, full-text articles from WHO, other UN partners, global NGOs, development agencies and their partners, countries and academics available online. The portal receives support … Read more

Strengthening TB Data and Commodities Management in the ECSA Region

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The burden of tuberculosis (TB) is particularly high in Africa, where many overstretched health systems struggle to treat the disease with limited resources. According to the 2013 WHO Global Tuberculosis Report, approximately one-quarter of the world’s 8.6 million new TB cases in 2012 came from the African region. Making the problem more difficult is the … Read more

QuanTB to be presented at the 5th Union Conference for the Asia Pacific Region

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SIAPS Program’s QuanTB software will be presented on August 31 as part of the 5th regional Conference of The Asia Pacific Region of the International Union Against TB & Lung Disease in Sydney, Australia. It will be discussed during the Global Drug Facility session “Global Drug Facility as a global mechanism for sustainable access to quality assured MDR-TB medicines”. QuanTB is … Read more

Mitigating antimicrobial resistance: Preventing resistance to HIV medications in Namibia

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The USAID-funded SIAPS program has been influential in designing Namibia’s approach to preventing the development of antimicrobial resistance including HIV drug resistance. Due to the rapid scale-up of ART services, Namibia has achieved high ART coverage of the HIV-positive population. Although it can be minimized, HIV drug resistance (HIV-DR) is anticipated to emerge among people … Read more

QuanTB 2.0 User Guides Now Available in French and Russian

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The USAID-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) program is excited to announce the launch of QuanTB 2.0 user guides in French and Russian. QuanTB is a downloadable electronic forecasting, quantification, and early warning tool designed to improve procurement processes, ordering, and planning for TB treatment. QuanTB transforms complicated calculations into a user-friendly … Read more

Capacity building strategies to improve efficient use of existing resources: The South African experience

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The efficient use of existing resources is an essential component of a sustainable and resilient pharmaceutical system. SIAPS-South Africa has used various capacity-building strategies to improve the decision-making process in the selection of cost-effective and affordable medicines for the public sector, and to promote the monitoring and analysis of pharmaceutical expenditure. To that effect, SIAPS-South … Read more