The SIAPS Namibia Project Director, Dr. Evans Sagwa, has advocated for adoption of strategies to ensure drug safety in TB and HIV treatment programs in the country. He made this call while delivering a public lecture on Friday, September 22, 2017, entitled “Strategies for optimizing patient safety in HIV and TB treatment programs in Namibia,” … Read more
Archive HIV/AIDS
HIV/TB Pharmaceutical Management Training in Swaziland to Improve Medicine Availability and Rational Use
An off-site training was held for 104 pharmacy personnel (32 males, 72 females) responsible for managing HIV and TB medicines in 88 health facilities in the 4 regions around the country. SIAPS supported the training, which included pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and nurses. The trainings took place over August 7–17, 2017, and each region was trained … Read more
Pediatric Antiretroviral Treatment Uptake, Treatment Adherence, Regimen Switches, and Retention in Care in Namibia
In Namibia, a preliminary review of EDT records suggests that children form a small proportion of the patients accessing ART in any given setting, nationally composing 8% of the patients on ART in the MoHSS facilities. Over the years, managing children has been complicated with formulations that have not been friendly for children, complicated regimens, and … Read more
Factors Associated With First-Line to Second-Line ART Regimen Switching Identified in the APMR Data Systems in Swaziland
In Swaziland, many observations have revealed that approaches to using the patient and logistics data from the Antiretroviral Therapy Patient Monitoring and Reporting (APMR) and RxSolution data systems were not always comparable, and results of data analysis from these electronic systems have not been adequately incorporated into decision-making processes. To bridge such gaps, a capacity-building … Read more
SIAPS Voices: Working for improved access to HIV treatment in Namibia
A Q&A with Greatjoy Mazibuko, SIAPS Senior Technical Manager in Namibia You’re working in Namibia, which has one of the highest prevalence rates of HIV in the world. How does this affect life in the country? The prevalence of HIV infection stood at 17.2% in 2016, which is relatively high for sub-Saharan Africa, but it’s … Read more
Regulatory Approval of PrEP Regimen Boosts Namibia’s Campaign to end the HIV Epidemic
In a major advance against the spread of HIV, Namibia has approved the use of emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF/FTC) to prevent HIV infection. The Namibian Medicines Regulatory Council (NMRC) approved a generic version of the medicine, Ricovir EM®, which is manufactured by Mylan Pharmaceuticals. It is used in combination with other antiretroviral medications to treat … Read more
New Pharmacy Assistants Help Narrow the ART Dispensing Gap in Namibia
On June 1, 2017, 38 new pharmacy assistants (PAs) graduated from Namibia’s National Health Training Center (NHTC). At the graduation ceremony, Dr. Andreas Mwoombola, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS), encouraged the graduates to prioritize the health of their communities and to serve those communities with dignity. He decried … Read more
Supportive Supervision and Mentorship Site Visit for Pharmacy Services in the Shiselweni Region, Swaziland
With support from SIAPS and in collaboration with other development partners, the Central Medical Stores (CMS) conducts supportive supervision and mentorship (SSM) visits to health facilities. Through these visits, the capacity of health personnel is built to effectively manage pharmaceuticals and services, improve the rational use of pharmaceuticals, and strengthen supply chain management at all levels … Read more
SMS Reminders Improve Patients’ Pharmacy Appointment-keeping for Antiretroviral Refills in Namibia
Patients on lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) may be at risk of forgetting their pharmacy appointments for antiretroviral (ARV) refills. The SMS-based ART pharmacy appointment and medication adherence reminder service provides automated text notifications to ART patients reminding them to pick up their ARV refills according to appointment dates made by pharmacy staff using the SIAPS-supported Electronic … Read more
HIV and AIDS Commodity Management Tool for West Africa (OSPSIDA): Technical Guide
The West Africa Regional HIV Pharmaceutical Management Information Dashboard is developed and implemented for fifteen focus West African countries for better management of HIV and AIDS commodities. The goal of the Dashboard is to capture, track, aggregate, and disseminate information about antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), rapid test kits (RTKs), and other HIV and AIDS commodities to support … Read more
