Since launching direct service delivery in the northern district of Madinani, ongoing supply chain issues at the local, district, and national levels have posed significant challenges. Notably, these have increased Muso’s need to acquire essential patient medications through local private pharmacies at retail prices, consequently increasing our cost per patient served. But things changed in Q1. Our Madinani team observed a remarkable surge in supply chain readiness for distributing vital medical supplies, with supply availability soaring to 80-90%, compared to the previous quarter's 35-40%.
One of the early differences the Muso team noted when we launched our technical assistance partnership with Côte d’Ivoire was the way in which the national supply chain is managed at the national Mali. We experienced medicine procurement challenges as we rapidly understood that there is more strict centralized government in Côte d’Ivoire. Consequently, since 2022, this have increased Muso’s need to acquire essential patient medications through local private pharmacies at retail prices. To address this challenge in the short term in Madinani, our team partnered with a local private pharmacy to obtain certain medications, which has subsequently driven up our cost per patient served.
To overcome this challenge, the Muso team initiated an intensive effort to improve local and district forecasting and ordering processes Over the past few months, our team has also pursued a more sustainable, long-term solution. Muso spearheaded negotiations at the national level, engaging with the Ivorian Pharmaceutical Regulation Agency (AIRP) and the New Public Health
Pharmacy (NPSP). These discussions culminated in the establishment of a new medication storage unit in the Odienné region, opening up new possibilities for the availability of medicine in Madinani. This progress marks a significant step forward in mitigating the challenges posed by supply chain issues, as the proximity of this new unit to our direct delivery sites in Madinani (compared to units in other regions of the country) ultimately ensures more efficient and cost-effective health care delivery.
In Q1, our team in Madinani noted a significant increase in the preparedness of the supply chain to provide vital medical supplies. Supply availability has surged to 80-90%, a substantial rise from the prevous quarter's 35-40%. As a result, all the community health centers within our coverage zone were adequately stocked with the necessary medical supplies to delivery rapid, quality care to patients - a first since our inception in this region in late 2022. This progress has consequently resulted in a significant reduction in expenses associated with private pharmacies, which were previously relied upon as a temporary solution to the supply chain challenges.
Muso will contrinue to work closely with our local partners at the government and national pharmacy level to devise and adopt new strategies and ensure that patients rightfully access care when they need it, where they need it. While there is still much work to be done, we remain optimistic that this transition will mark a positive trend for the future.
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