The Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program

The Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program

Man in Uganda reviews medicine inventory

MTaPS Responds to COVID-19

At the beginning of the pandemic, through MTaPS, we emerged as a major responder under the Global Health Security Agenda. We work in USAID priority countries—Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, the Philippines, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda—collaborating with national rapid response teams to assess capacities and strengthen policies, coordination, and management. MTaPS’ action plan includes infection prevention and control measures for health facilities using WHO guidelines to improve hygiene to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

Overview

Access to safe and quality medicines at an affordable price and their responsible use by all populations can help countries prevent maternal and child deaths, create an AIDS-free generation, and protect their communities from infectious disease threats. Further, ensuring appropriate use of medical products can help control antimicrobial resistance (AMR)—a growing global threat that is making infections harder to treat.

Funded by USAID and implemented by a consortium led by MSH, MTaPS aims to help low- and middle-income countries strengthen their pharmaceutical systems to ensure sustainable access to and appropriate use of safe, effective, quality-assured, and affordable essential medicines and pharmaceutical services. The five-year program builds on the work of its predecessor program, the USAID-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program. As a core part of its work, MTaPS supports USAID’s efforts under the Global Health Security Agenda to combat AMR. These efforts are directed toward building countries’ capacity to optimize their use of antimicrobials and avert infectious disease threats, thus securing health nationally and globally.

The program’s approach to strengthening pharmaceutical systems is to: 

  • Improve pharmaceutical-sector governance 
  • Strengthen the national regulatory system 
  • Increase institutional and human resource capacity 
  • Increase the availability and use of pharmaceutical information for decision-making 
  • Improve pharmaceutical-sector financing 
  • Strengthen supply chain management
  • Enhance pharmaceutical services, including building pharmacovigilance systems and improving pharmacy practices 

Identifying and Addressing Challenges to Antimicrobial Use Surveillance in the Human Health Sector in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Experiences and Lessons Learned from Tanzania and Uganda

Call for a New Cadre of Pharmaceutical Professionals to Strengthen LMIC Systems

All too often, pharmacists in LMICs find themselves shouldering the responsibility of both caring for patients and managing pharmaceutical operations, though their education doesn’t equip them for the latter. Donors see the problem and tend to spend on costly experts, often expats. “What if, instead, locals trained in pharmaceutical system strengthening could identify issues?” asks MSH’s Emmanuel Nfor in an article calling for a new cadre of professionals trained broadly in strengthening pharmaceutical systems—diagnosing and addressing weaknesses to improve access and care, and planning for financial sustainability.

Francis Aboagye-Nyame
Francis Aboagye-Nyame

Program Director, MTaPS Program

Project Contact

Francis Aboagye-Nyame provides strategic vision and leadership to the $169 million, USAID-funded Medicines, Technologies and Pharmaceutical Systems (MTaPS) program, collaborating closely with USAID, country governments, implementing agencies, and partners on pharmaceutical systems strengthening activities to meet its goals. A thought leader on pharmaceutical management with over 25 years of experience, he was previously the Program Director of the USAID-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program and guided the $244 million program’s efforts to strengthen pharmaceutical systems in over 40 countries.

Aboagye-Nyame also held senior leadership and management positions on the USAID-funded Strengthening Pharmaceutical Systems (SPS), Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) Project, and RPM Plus programs, including Technical Deputy Director and then Program Director of the $229 million SPS program. He has direct knowledge of country challenges—prior to joining MSH, he spent over 10 years with Ghana’s Ministry of Health, serving as a Deputy Program Manager of the Ghana National Drugs Program, a five-year, $8 million pharmaceutical systems strengthening project and the Head of the Procurement Unit of the Ghana Ministry of Health.

Aboagye-Nyame holds an MSc in pharmaceutical analysis and quality control and an MBA in finance. He is a fellow of the West Africa Postgraduate College of Pharmacists, and the Ghana College of Pharmacists.

Donors & Partners

Donors

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Partners

Agency into the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD)

Boston University

FHI360

International Law Institute-Africa Centre for Legal Excellence (ILI)

Overseas Strategic Consulting

Results for Development