USAID’s Supply Chain Management System Project in Côte d’Ivoire

The project aims to improve supply chain management at the local level, reducing stockout rates, delivery delays, and logistical challenges. The SCMS office in Man, one of five sub-offices implementing the Decentralized Supply Chain Management (D-SCM) project, covers four regions and 16 districts. The office works closely with regional and district pharmacists to increase the availability of HIV/AIDS products and essential medicines at service delivery points (SDPs) by building supply chain management capacity of regional pharmacists, health district pharmacy managers, regional and general hospitals, and health centers. The project has made significant progress in improving supply chain management for health products, reducing stockouts, and increasing access to antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV. The district pharmacy in Man, however, is experiencing significant storage challenges, with boxes of products stocked in the lobby of the local health office under poor conditions. To address this issue, SCMS has introduced improvements such as the use of stock cards and charts for expiring products, which is increasing efficiency. To further address space limitations, SCMS has developed a proposal for increasing the storage capacity of the Man district pharmacy by renovating an existing garage structure on-site. This will increase total space from 201 square meters to 309 square meters and will provide the district pharmacy with storage space equipped to modern standards. This is the first of 15 planned renovations to be completed by June 2015. The U.S. Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire has pledged continuous support for strengthening the public health supply chain in the country. He has assured regional and district representatives that the U.S. government will continue to support efforts to increase availability of drugs and other pharmaceuticals in the Tonkpi region's hospitals and health centers, and will continue to strengthen the logistics management information system for health products. The Ambassador has also confirmed that ongoing support will be provided to build the capacity of regional pharmacists to better manage their activities.