By Helena Walkowiak, Principal Technical Advisor, SIAPS It’s been called the pharmaceutical sector, a drug supply or management system or the medical products building block. By any name, the part of a health system that deals with ensuring access to essential medicines, vaccines and medical products and their correct use–we call it a pharmaceutical system … Read more
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Voices: “You can’t achieve UHC without thinking about gender”
A Q&A with Kiley Workman Diop, technical advisor for the SIAPS Program You took courses in gender studies in college. How has that shaped your work? It has shaped my work a lot! My background in public health is rooted in the social aspects of health. Social determinants like income, gender, race, class, faith, sexuality, … Read more
Blog: SIAPS Donates New Computers to Angola MOH’s New Medicines Regulatory Unit
By Wonder Goredema, Senior Technical Advisor and SIAPS Technical Support Lead/ Acting Country Project Director – Angola On September 27, 2016, Dra. Katiza Mangueira, the Head of the Angola Ministry of Health’s Directorate of Medicines and Equipment (Direcção Nacional de Medicamentos e Equipamentos [DNME]) accepted three desktop computers and power surge adaptors from the Angola … Read more
UHC Day 2016: Strong pharmaceutical management boosts access to essential medicines
By Francis Aboagye–Nyame, SIAPS Program Director On this day in 2014, the global health community made a commitment to universal health coverage (UHC) throughout the world. Although progress has been made, more than one billion people still lack access to basic health care. Further, as a Lancet Commission report, Essential Medicines for Universal Health Coverage, said … Read more
Focus on Priority and Emerging Health Issues
Comprehensive strategies and actions for monitoring the safety of medicines are essential to a well-functioning pharmaceutical sector. The links below highlight recent SIAPS Program work in priority and emerging health issues to strengthen health systems. SIAPS Voices series “You can’t achieve UHC without thinking about gender” In public health, when you’re designing an intervention you’re … Read more
SIAPS at Namibia’s First National AIDS Conference
The SIAPS Namibia team participated in Namibia’s first National AIDS Conference (NAC) on 28 – 30 November, 2016. Under the theme, “Together We Are Ending AIDS In Namibia”, the conference brought together the Namibia Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS), national HIV program, and other key stakeholders to reflect on achievements made so far … Read more
Promoting Rational Medicine Use through Therapeutics Committees: Evidence from the Kunene Region of Namibia
Functional Therapeutic Committees (TCs) in public health facilities help to improve rational medicine use (RMU). RMU is necessary to prevent antimicrobial resistance, including HIV drug resistance. Download this article as a PDF The inappropriate use of medicines in health care facilities may result in wastage of resources. However, this can be improved by adopting simple … Read more
EDT Simplifies the Management of Pharmacy Appointments for Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy
Efficiently managing pharmacy appointments for large numbers of patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) at public health facilities is challenging without a simple, computerized tool, such as the electronic dispensing tool (EDT). Download this article as a PDF At public health facilities in Namibia, pharmacy staff and nurses use the EDT to manage the register of … Read more
Video: Reducing Stock-outs and Saving Lives in Bangladesh
Until recently, sporadic stock-outs of contraceptives at service delivery points (SDPs) under the Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP) were a challenge in Bangladesh. These stock-outs were caused by a lack of accurate and real-time logistics data from the SDPs, limited access to data, and poor feedback mechanisms. This situation increased the risk of unwanted pregnancies … Read more
SIAPS Concludes Five Years of Pharmaceutical Systems Strengthening in South Sudan
By Abraham Ayuen, Communications Specialist On November 8, 2016, the US Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program convened a key stakeholder meeting in Juba, South Sudan, to reflect on lessons learned, achievements, and final transition plans as the project concluded five years of pharmaceutical systems strengthening … Read more
