Management Sciences for Health (MSH) identified the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as one of the partners in the Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) program proposal funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). ACPE is the national accreditation agency for quality assurance of pharmacy education in the United States. To help foreign countries assess and improve their pharmacy education programs, ACPE through its International Services Program also provides consultative services and certification of education programs that meet ACPE’s international quality criteria.
ACPE previously conducted a survey of pharmacy education and practice issues in low- and middle-income countries identified by MSH as part of the SIAPS program. One of the participants in the survey was the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FOPS), University of Kinshasa, the oldest and the main faculty of pharmacy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As a result of the survey, the Faculty expressed interest, with the help of ACPE and SIAPS, in further analysis of areas explored in the survey with a view toward strengthening the pharmacy education program to better meet the public health needs and priorities of the DRC. This was recognized as a high-impact activity for SIAPS in DRC, with the results spinning off on the other three faculties of pharmacy in the country and the National Pharmacy Council, thereby positively affecting pharmacy education and practice in the whole country, including the private sector.
MSH engaged ACPE to conduct the requested consultation for the FOPS, University of Kinshasa.
