How to promote access to medicines in Zimbabwe

Strategies Prioritisation of the health services in national budget– allocation and disbursements Introduce Government subsidies to ensure access to medicines Coordination of procurement and distribution of medicines at national and regional levels so as to be cost-effective Harmonisation of the registration of medicines in the region Capitalisation and building of capacity of NATPHARM to effectively manage the supply chain and the procurement process at all levels

Recommendation Increase human resources e.g. pharmacists to manage the supply chain Increase the period of bonding from 1 to at least 3 years for pharmacists Training of relevant personnel (pre- and in-service) on the management of the supply chain Supply management training has to be conducted during pre-service training

Strategies Information-sharing on pricing nationally and regionally Involvement of the community in monitoring availability of medicines e.g. Village Health Worker