Burma

The USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project works in Burma to support the Ministry of Health and Sport (MOHS) in achieving an efficient, cost-effective, transparent health supply chain — one that ensures availability of quality, efficacious medicines, medical supplies, and equipment at all levels to improve health outcomes.

Our project builds on the earlier work of the USAID Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) and USAID | DELIVER projects to advance the MOHS agenda as articulated in the National Health Supply Chain Strategy for Medicines, Medical Supply, and Equipment (2015–2020), which provides a costed road map for supply chain strengthening. Since the baseline assessment was completed, GHSC-PSM has been working with the MOHS and other health sector stakeholders to implement key activities outlined in the national strategy. We strive to attain a single, integrated, country-led supply chain for the health sector by:
 

• Supporting cross-cutting systems-strengthening interventions to improve the overall supply chain for essential medicines
• Strengthening the HIV supply chain system to ensure commodity availability and improve testing and treatment scale-up consistent with the national commitment to achieve “90-90-90”
• Strengthening the tuberculosis (TB) laboratory logistics and supply chain systems to ensure a stable and quality-assured supply of TB medicines, diagnostic tests, and other related commodities
• Removing critical bottlenecks in the national malaria supply chain system to ensure availability of the most effective antimalarial commodities

Key activities in Burma include:
 

• Support the MOHS in a variety of activities, including finalizing the detailed master plan for implementing the National Supply Chain Strategy
• Publish and distribute forecasting guidelines developed by SCMS, including for essential medicines and antiretrovirals (ARVs), prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and rapid test kit commodities, to ensure all hospitals and health programs are following standardized forecasting methodologies
• Collaborate with the Three Millennium Development Goal Fund's Regional Supply Chain Strengthening project to publish storage guidelines and train focal persons from 11 regional public health and medical services departments and hospitals on warehouse management
• Assess the laboratory logistics system for TB medicines and make recommendations
• Standardize and implement a warehouse management system, starting from HIV, TB, and malaria programs
• Build a web-based technical specifications bank to better secure competitive prices

The project teams also work with USAID missions, the MOHS, the Central Medical Store Depot, and other development partners to strengthen their stewardship role and accountability for the supply chain in Burma. A key goal is building the capacity of government leadership and management teams to set goals, clarify expectations, and set an example for responsible management, which will inspire and build the commitment of supply chain staff and facilitate positive change.