Within the context of health system strengthening and pharmaceutical systems development goals, a population must have equitable access to quality affordable medicines and pharmaceutical supplies. The utilization of the private (for-profit and not-for-profit) pharmaceutical sector actors by the public to promote universal access to quality medicines and related commodities is an increasingly common practice in resource poor settings. Faith-based drug supply organizations (FB-DSOs), as a component of the private-not-for-profit (PNFP) sector, are increasingly involved in the supply of pharmaceuticals to complement public sector efforts in wider coverage of communities in Africa. However, their role in the pharmaceutical system in Africa is not well defined. This paper presents the results of a systematic review conducted to map out the organization of pharmaceutical systems and establish the role of faith-based health care providers in the pharmaceutical supply chain in Africa. For this study, a scoping review was first conducted to map the literature on pharmaceutical supply chains in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), understand the challenges facing pharmaceutical supply chainsin LMICs and the role faith-based health care providers play in the pharmaceutical supply chain. After this, a qualitative systematic review was conducted across multiple electronic databases to identify documents that contain information on faith-based involvement in pharmaceutical supply chain in Africa. Citation tracking was used to identify further relevant articles. Included materials were analyzed using thematic narrative analysis and synthesized. The public pharmaceutical supply chain in Africa is faced with challenges including drug stock outs and irregular supplies, shortage of trained pharmacy personnel and lack of system for drug regulation and quality assurance. Faith-based health care providers involved in pharmaceutical supply chain do exist extensively as drug supply organizations or as a Christian Health Association with a pharmaceutical supply chain. They have been in existence in Africa for a very long time now contributing to the national pharmaceutical system in Africa. The review revealed that faith-based involvement in pharmaceutical chains tended to improve access to the general population and inserted additional pharmaceutical supplies into the national pharmaceutical system - which tended to strengthen the broader public private partnership between faith-based health providers and the public sector. This analysis confirmed that African pharmaceutical supply systems continue to face challenges. There is a major evidence gap relating to PNFP contribution to pharmaceutical systems - as is evidenced by this study on faith-based contributions to African pharmaceutical systems (which can be understood as a tracer for a broader concern). There is a particular lack of evidence about the national supply chain, and how faith-based PNFP engagement contribute or detract from the national pharmaceuticalsupply chain. FB-DSOs complement the public pharmaceutical system by improving access to medicines and related commodities in Africa.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/31482 |
| Date | 05 March 2020 |
| Creators | Jalloh, Isatu |
| Contributors | Olivier, Jill, Whyle Eleanor |
| Publisher | Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Public Health and Family Medicine |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MPH |
| Format | application/pdf |
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