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

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

Strengthening Pharmaceutical Systems

Box 1 - MTaPS - mother receiveds medicine for her child from a health worker

Working across countries in Africa and Asia, the USAID MTaPS Program has made significant progress in improving access to essential medicines and ensuring they are used safely.

MSH trained over 3,000 health workers - Philippines - MTaPS

In the Philippines, MSH trained over 3,000 health workers, enhanced pharmaceutical management systems across 330 health facilities, and supported the development of 20 key health policies.

Healthcare workers trained in pharmaceutical system strengthening by the MTaPS program

By focusing on country ownership and sustainable interventions, MTaPS has made a lasting impact on the countries it serves and helps ensure these efforts can be carried on by local governments and partners for years to come.

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 

Webinar: Health Workforce Development through the Lens of Sustainable, Locally Led Development

In this webinar, Management Sciences for Health (MSH) discusses country partnerships in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, focusing on how various health workforce interventions are taking a systems-approach to capacity strengthening in order to ensure that improvements last beyond the project cycle and are managed under the ongoing custodianship of local actors.

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