In the news: Defeating Malaria through Pharmaceutical Systems Strengthening

SIAPS’ role to control malaria was recently featured in Health & Humanitarian: The Supply Chain Review. Between 2000 and 2015, malaria case incidences declined by 41% and mortality rates by 62%. However, approximately 212 million people were infected and 429,000 people died in 2015, with the majority being children under the age of 5 in sub-Saharan Africa.

This summary article highlights the program’s interventions in eight countries (Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Guinea, Mali, and South Sudan) to control malaria.

A technician tests a child for malaria at a health center in Kinshasa, DRC.

SIAPS provided technical assistance to country governments, National Malaria Control Programs, and all stakeholders involved in the supply chain system to improve the management of malaria commodities and maintain effective interventions to support the prevention and treatment of malaria.

For example, in DRC, SIAPS helped revamp the supply chain of antimalarial commodities by establishing national- and regional-level coordination committees. These committees were essential in centralizing storage commodities from different donors and programs to improve efficiency and optimize distribution of products. SIAPS also put in place a mechanism to mitigate potential stock-outs in one facility by redistributing identified overstock from others.

SIAPS’ impact contributed to strengthening the supply chain management systems, improving the quality of information systems, and increasing access to malaria commodities and the coverage of malaria interventions.

Read more in the magazine’s new issue and find the report Defeating Malaria through Pharmaceutical Systems Strengthening here.

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