Management Sciences for Health to Increase Access to Affordable, Quality-assured Medicines in Uganda

May 11, 2020

Management Sciences for Health to Increase Access to Affordable, Quality-assured Medicines in Uganda

Arlington, VA—May 11, 2020—Management Sciences for Health (MSH) announced today that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded it a cooperative agreement to support Uganda’s efforts to strengthen its health supply chain to increase availability of and access to safe, quality-assured medicines and health supplies in public and private nonprofit health facilities.

“We’re grateful for the opportunity to continue our work as a trusted supply chain advisor to the government of Uganda and USAID,” said Marian W. Wentworth, MSH’s President and CEO. “This project will further strengthen the health system to more effectively combat infectious and noncommunicable diseases and improve health services and outcomes for all of Uganda’s families and communities.”

The five-year program, called Uganda Strengthening Supply Chain Systems (SSCS) Technical Assistance Activity, will start immediately. It builds on MSH’s successful implementation of two other supply chain programs in the country over almost two decades of USAID’s commitment to strengthening Uganda’s health care infrastructure.

Although Uganda has made great progress on a range of health indicators since 1990, it still ranks in the bottom tier of countries on multiple global health indices. Limited reliable access to affordable, quality-assured medicines and health supplies affects service delivery at health facilities and is a critical underlying factor in Uganda’s continued poor health status. The threat of Ebola and the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically illustrate and reinforce the need for a responsive supply chain to provide supplies to prevent and treat the viruses.

MSH will help Uganda fortify its health supply chain systems to improve the performance of key actors throughout the supply chain; advance transparent governance and effective, data-informed policies and regulations; and strengthen local capacity to promote self-reliance in managing a world-class supply chain. In implementing the project, MSH will partner with and build the capacity of two local Ugandan organizations, the Uganda Healthcare Federation (UHF) and Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE). These collaborators will gradually take on increased technical and management responsibilities as part of a deliberate strategy to promote local ownership and sustainability.