By Noha Zeitoun, Content Intern, PSI and Alia McKee, Sea Change Strategies
Too often in Uganda, the basic essentials that women need to stay are in short supply. Women trying to access affordable essential medicines, contraception and clean birthing kits are often met with “We’ve sold out.”
Kareem used to have to say that to customers.
He was a community pharmacist at a pharmacy on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. Women would come into the store asking for items that they just didn’t have. They couldn’t keep the pharmacy stocked and couldn’t get new products fast enough.
That’s why Kareem came to work for PSI. Now he’s the Production Pharmacist at a PACE warehouse, one of five that PACE—a PSI network member – runs in Uganda, serving Kampala and central Uganda.
As the Production Pharmacist here, Kareem works to get women the basic supplies they need to stay healthy. And he’s particularly passionate about making sure women have the essentials they need to survive giving birth.
“Our work here throws big smiles into the community.”
In Uganda, 6,000 women die each year to preventable pregnancy complications, 16 a day. Kareem is working to make that number zero.
The products sourced and distributed by the warehouse include clean birthing kits that women can take with them to hospitals and clinics — which often don’t have basic medical supplies. The kits include basic lifesaving items like plastic sheets, soap, surgical gloves, surgical blades and cotton wool.
At the warehouse, everyone plays a critical part in ensuring the supply chain runs effectively. The procurement specialist receives goods that are processed and documented. Each item then goes through quality control by a licensed chemist on staff in the warehouse. Items are either accepted or quarantined for deficiencies. It’s all documented.
As Mariam, Kareem’s assistant says, “Once it’s written, it’s done. If it’s not written, it’s not done.”
And the warehouse is connected to the larger health system. Through interpersonal communicators (IPCs), women who attend the recommended four pre-natal visits and deliver in a facility get a free diaper bag that’s stocked with important items for new mom and baby, incentivizing crucial pre-natal visits and getting women into clinics.
It’s a proven intervention that helps save lives. And thanks to PACE, its partners and donors, like USAID, more women in Uganda will have access to these essential life-saving products.
For more success stories, go to the series: Stories from Uganda: Lessons in Providing Comprehensive Care for Women.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of PACE
