MOIC will be one of the partners to carry out the final evaluation of the EC/ACP/WHO programme ‘Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Systems and Improving Access to Quality Essential Medicines’ in Africa.
Medicines selection and procurement are vital issues for public health in Africa, as pharmaceuticals often constitute the only available health technology to improve health in the region. According to WHO, availability of key medicines remains low in many African countries (55-66% on average), while pharmaceuticals may consume up to 60% of current public expenditures in public health.
Better patient outcomes
In 2012, the EC, ACP and WHO launched a comprehensive programme in Africa: ‘Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Systems and Improving Access to Quality Essential Medicines’ in mainly sub-Saharan countries. The main objectives of the programme were to ‘contribute to improving the availability, affordability and use of safe, effective and quality assured medicines for priority communicable and non-communicable diseases’. In reaching the objectives, the programme wanted to contribute to improved cost-effective health care and better patient outcomes for the African population.
Reviewing the programme
After four years of operation, the programme is coming to a close and a review of its effectiveness and sustainability needs to be carried out on behalf of the EC, WHO and the participating countries. Following a tendering procedure, MOIC was selected as one of the partners to carry out the evaluation. This process will be carried out over a six to eight-month time frame starting in September 2017. It will involve visits to six African countries and intensive deliberations with all main stakeholders in – among others – Brussels (EC) and Geneva (WHO). The evaluation process will be concluded by the organisation of a final workshop in Geneva.
MOIC’s expertise
With the engagement of the MOIC as one of the partners in the project, the increasing role of MOIC as a Centre of Excellence in international medicines optimisation is recognised. It will enable MOIC to further strengthen its collaboration with the EC, WHO and other relevant international and national organisations. It will expand MOICs technical expertise in such fields as selection and procurement of medicines, distribution, quality of medicines and prescribing and dispensing.
The project will be coordinated by Frans van Andel, MSc, MPH, PhD, Lead in Internationalisation at the MOIC.
More information on the programme ‘Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Systems and Improving Access to Quality Essential Medicines’ in the brochure The EU/ACP/WHO Renewed Partnership 2012-2016 and the website of the World Health Organization.
On the Renewed Partnership: the RP is a collaborative initiative between the European Commission (EC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and 15 African Member States of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). The overall objectives of the RP are to contribute to the achievement of health-related Millennium Development Goals (i.e. MDGs 4, 5, 6 and 8), and to help realize Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the partner countries. To accomplish this, the RP supports improvements in the availability, affordability and use of safe, effective and quality-assured essential medicines. The overall budget of the RP amounts to €10.8 million.