Anti-Malaria Drug Management (AMDM) Quarterly Report

The program is implemented in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia, and focuses on improving the management of anti-malaria drugs. The AMDM program in Ethiopia began operations in October 2008 and operates in 66 health facilities and 20 health posts across all zones of the Oromia Regional State. The program's objective is to provide technical, strategic, managerial, and operational support to implement and strengthen AMDM activities in the region. During the third program quarter, which spanned from April to June 2009, several key accomplishments were achieved. A partnership meeting and coordination meeting was held with the USAID/PMI Ethiopia team, where the discussion focused on AMDM activities carried out in the last months and the upcoming visit of the USAID/CDC Malaria Operational Plans for 2010 (MOP10) planning team. A meeting was also held with the Director General of the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Directorate of the Federal Ministry of Health, where the team briefed the Director General on the objectives of the AMDM program, outcomes of the AMDM baseline assessment carried out in November 2008, and challenges in implementing AMDM. The Director General briefed the team on activities currently going on the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP), problem areas pertaining to the drug supply system, future strategies and plans in the NMCP, and the importance of exchange of information on progresses. Additionally, the AMDM team participated in the preparation of Woreda Based Health Sector Planning (WBHSP) for the fiscal year 2002 (Ethiopian Calendar-EC), where AMDM provided logistics support for the planning workshop. The team also participated in a one-day Malaria Message Harmonization Finalization Workshop organized by the Academy for Education and Development (AED/C-change), where the proposed messages on drug treatment will be incorporated into AMDM trainings in the future. Furthermore, the AMDM team attended series of meetings coordinated by the USAID-Ethiopia on pharmaceutical logistics management, where the meetings largely focused on logistics management information system (LMIS) data requirement matrix of the partners, LMIS design process, development of a joint logistic work plan, and opportunistic infections (OI) drugs assessment study. The AMDM implementation framework emphasizes the need for immediate actions by Regional Pharmaceutical Management Associates (RPMAs) to speed up implementation of AMDM while waiting for training, manuals, and procurement of materials. Immediate actions to be taken include introduction of stock/bin cards, disposal of expired and obsolete products, organizing storage, and continuous monitoring and improvement. A comprehensive monitoring and improvement checklist to be used at regional, zonal, and facility levels has been developed to ensure continuous monitoring and improvement of AMDM activities. The checklist includes indicators for monitoring and evaluation, which will be used to track progress and identify areas for improvement. Overall, the AMDM program in Ethiopia has made significant progress in improving the management of anti-malaria drugs in the region. The program's focus on strengthening pharmaceutical management systems, improving governance in the pharmaceutical sector, and enhancing access to and appropriate use of medicines has contributed to the reduction of malaria-related mortality in the region.