For more than a decade, Kenya has faced one of the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world. In support of the government’s efforts to fight the disease, the USAID Kenya Pharma program provided drugs, supplies, and equipment needed for HIV/AIDS care and treatment. The program established and operated a pharmaceutical supply chain management system…
Shaun O’Neil has nearly 25 years of international development experience with nearly 20 years’ experience implementing donor-funded health programs focused on strengthening HIV/AIDS, malaria, family planning, and maternal, child health commodity supply chains. Shaun is currently a managing director overseeing nine country supply chain and health systems strengthening programs in eastern and southern Africa for…
A successful supply chain doesn’t only rely on product availability or system management. Responding to the global health challenges of today and tomorrow will require going beyond the foundational building blocks of a supply chain to create a system that can work more quickly, effectively, and seamlessly. Recently, supply chain practitioners from around the world…
What does a start-up field assignment with Chemonics look like? In my case, I landed in Burundi in August, charged with carrying out recruitment efforts in the country for USAID’s Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management project (GHSC-PSM). In the end, I spent forty days in Bujumbura, at times working 16 hours a…
At the Global Health Supply Chain Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, we had the opportunity to hear about innovations, public-private partnerships, and other unique solutions that actors from various points of pharmaceutical supply chains are utilizing to solve last mile challenges. Unmanned aerial vehicles, blockchains, Uber-like mobile phone applications for delivery of essential medicines,…
1. What supply chain challenges inhibit universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care? The treatment of people with HIV presents unique challenges. Even once people are on treatment, they must be monitored to be sure the drugs are effective in decreasing the person’s viral load. WHO guidelines supported under the President’s Emergency Plan for…
How can global health supply chains bring together the right people, products, and processes to maximize impact? At the ninth annual Global Health Supply Chain Summit (GHSCS), which takes place from November 16 to 18, Chemonics joins supply chain experts to explore integrating supply chains for sustainable health outcomes. Hosted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this year’s…
In 2015, the United Nations ratified the Sustainable Development Goals, which include bold targets to eradicate poverty and deliver comprehensive healthcare worldwide by 2030. To achieve Goal 3, ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages, reaching the largest segment of the world’s poor — the women, children, and men who live…
Last week I sat in a workshop about expanding access to treatment for all people living with HIV, regardless of their clinical stage or CD4 count, and remembered my early years working on HIV programs in sub-Saharan Africa. As I reflected on how far we’ve come, I thought about some of the biggest lessons I…
To meet the critical global health challenges of today’s world, the USAID Procurement and Supply Management Project (PSM) will transform global and national supply chains for essential health commodities into a supply chain that serves all people in need. In addition to optimizing supply chains, PSM applies a holistic approach to strengthening in-country supply chain…
The theme of this year’s American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting, hosted in Chicago, was “Health in All Policies” (HiAP). This theme emphasized the need for policymakers in all sectors to recognize that environments where we live, work, and attend school have serious implications on health outcomes. Julián Castro, the U.S. Secretary of Housing…
To ensure that HIV/AIDS patients have consistent access to the drugs they need, the USAID-supported Kenya Pharma project created a secure and reliable supply chain that prevents stockouts, while expanding the number of service delivery points (SDPs) where patients can receive antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. To expand access, Kenya Pharma expanded care through satellite facilities in…