Management Sciences for Health (MSH) aims at strengthening procurement and supply chain management capacity for delivery of 45 million SMC treatments across the Sahel

If implemented at scale, SMC could prevent up to 75% of uncomplicated and severe cases of malaria. To prepare the seven ACCESS-SMC countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, The Gambia) for community-based delivery of 45 million seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) treatments, MSH conducted rapid procurement and supply chain assessments. Following these assessments, a regional workshop was held to share the findings and prioritize quick win interventions to fill important gaps in each of the Sahelian countries. 

Held in Accra, Ghana from April 15 to 16 2015, the MSH regional workshop sought to define priorities in order to strengthen procurement and supply chain management capacity of participating countries and address the areas of weakness identified. Results of the assessments revealed that, for the most part, countries were sufficiently prepared for the SMC distributions (July – November 2015); however there were several areas of weakness identified, with funding and data quality reoccurring as challenges faced by all participating countries. 

The workshop gathered 26 participants, largely pharmacists from the Ministry of Health (National Malaria Control Programs, Central Medical Stores and Departments of Pharmacy) as well as leaders from MSH and ACCESS-SMC partner organizations. These participants provided valuable support, deliberating and offering targeted solutions to support the seven ACCESS-SMC countries to develop action plans, bridging gaps and consequently ensuring the efficient delivery of SMC drugs, sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine (SP+AQ) products.

This workshop contributed to addressing priority issues and provided valuable support to countries as they prepared for SMC delivery, and MSH will continue to provide valuable support, promoting sustainable improvements in SMC-related supply chain management capacity.

To learn more about ACCESS-SMC’s work in strengthening procurement and supply chain management, read here.