Alerts about stock-outs of life-saving medicines for antiretroviral therapy (ART) and treating opportunistic infections have been issued in a number of countries in West Africa (WA). Eight countries in the region have not only reported stock-outs of critical medications, but have also demonstrated a lack of capacity to identify and address the underlying causes of stock-outs or to generate accurate and reliable data for decision making.
To provide effective long-term solutions, the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) West Africa office requested that the Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program provide support to six countries in the WA region. Based on information collected from the rapid situational analyses in five countries, SIAPS developed a regional dashboard to serves as an early warning indicators system (EWS) for monitoring HIV and AIDS commodities to detect and minimize the risk of stock-outs in six focus countries.
On April 20-21, 2015, SIAPS and WAHO co-facilitated a regional stakeholders meeting for representatives of National AIDS Control Programs (NACP), managers of Central Medical Stores, and pharmaceutical commodity managers from the WA region, as well as representatives from other organizations operating in the region
