Strengthening and Sustain Supply Chain Management in Botswana through Partnership with the Peace Corps

SCMS has been working with the MOH to design and implement the Botswana Health Commodities Logistics System in all districts and service delivery points (SDPs). This support has led to significant achievements in supply chain capacity building, including curriculum development, supply chain pre-service training for pharmacy and laboratory students at the Institute of Health Sciences, and in-service training for 794 health care personnel. The training resulted in 97% of participants being deemed competent based on post-training testing. Additionally, on-the-job training was provided to 905 health care personnel. Despite these efforts, challenges persisted in establishing dedicated supply chain professionals in health facilities. Few MOH professionals were trained in health commodities logistics systems, and the responsibility was often perceived as tangential to their other duties. Local capacity challenges, associated with weak supply chain management, led to stockouts of vital, essential, and necessary goods, as well as wastage through expired products. In 2014, SCMS learned of an opportunity to further build supply chain management capacity in Botswana by leveraging Peace Corps (PC) volunteers. SCMS proposed including supply chain activities as part of the PC's support to the health districts and facilities where PCVs were assigned. Together, SCMS and PC Botswana successfully developed a proposal for MOH approval. This partnership aimed to strengthen and sustain supply chain management training in Botswana through collaboration with the Peace Corps. The partnership led to the development of a five-day Supply Chain workshop in Tlokweng, Botswana. The workshop was deemed innovative and eye-opening by participants, who reported learning a lot and planning to pass the information to their colleagues. The workshop was facilitated by SCMS and PC Botswana, and it trained 27 PCVs and MOH counterparts in health commodities logistics systems. The trained PCVs established a PCV Committee for Supply Chain Management of Botswana (CSCM), which has since grown to eight PCVs. The CSCM has facilitated two logistics system trainings in collaboration with MOH professionals trained as trainers. These trainings have trained 48 PCVs and 24 MOH counterparts, including pharmacy, laboratory, nursing, and health care auxiliary staff. The trainings have been well-received, with participants requesting additional training for more health care providers. As a result, the CSCM's scope has expanded to training health care providers without PCV participants. In August 2016, the CSCM trained 19 more MOH personnel and began receiving requests for additional workshops from the MOH and the Central Medical Stores. The CSCM has received positive feedback from trained personnel, who have praised the training as innovative and eye-opening. One participant noted that the training was a valuable experience and that they planned to pass the information to their colleagues. Another participant recommended that clinic staff be trained in drug chain management to avoid stockouts, expiries, and wastage. The CSCM has sustained this initiative by training new PCVs and additional volunteers as trainers to take over from those finishing their PCV service. The CSCM Chairperson, Camille Jones, has highlighted the "win-win nature" of this ongoing initiative, stating that it provides a unique opportunity for impactful volunteer work and sustained collaboration with local counterparts.