The Transaid organisation is helping to strengthen pharmaceutical supply chains in Ethiopia through a new 12-month project.
Transaid, and the nonprofit American International Health Alliance (AIHA), will work with the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Services (EPSS) on the project, funded by the Gates Foundation.
It will see Transaid work to build human resources capacity and support staff development within the EPSS.
Founded by Save the Children, Transaid is an international nonprofit development organisation that works with communities, partners, and governments to solve transport challenges throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
The Addis Ababa-based EPSS procures close to $1billion USD (€855 million) worth of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies each year, for delivery to more than 4,000 health facilities across Ethiopia – the 10th most populous in the world.
Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing African economies, with its 180,000-kilometre road network undergoing significant expansion to support trade and logistics.
Transaid Head of Programmes, Sam Clark, said: “EPSS has a vision to be the most responsive and efficient pharmaceutical supply chain organisation in Africa by 2030, and this project directly supports that goal.
“After reviewing the EPSS’ policies and procedures last year, followed by a visit to meet with the key stakeholders and to see the operation for ourselves, we were able to identify specific actions where we can help to strengthen current practices.”
To date, the project has included the development of a tailored plan to guide the rollout of actions identified in the initial analysis, with clear responsibilities for all project partners and a tracking tool to measure inputs.
The setting up of in-person and remote workshops to support knowledge exchange will form an important part of the implementation plan.
“The wealth of knowledge we can unlock through our corporate partners is second to none,” said Sam Clark.
“Combined with everything we already know as an organisation about transport, logistics, and access to healthcare from three decades working across sub-Saharan Africa, it makes Transaid the perfect delivery partner for a project like this.”
EPSS has more than 70 years’ experience in providing pharmaceuticals, laboratory reagents, medical equipment and supplies to the Ethiopian people.
