Does VillageReach administer vaccines, dispense medicines or perform
other heath care services?
VillageReach does not
participate in the actual dispensation of medical care. The organization's
purpose is to serve as a delivery and logistics solution for financially
strapped rural health care systems. By ensuring timely delivery of essential
equipment and medical supplies, VillageReach supports improved medical care
dispensed by trained health professionals at clinics and other community
medical facilities.
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What types of goods does VillageReach transport/deliver?
VillageReach is committed to making sure crucial
supplies reach the most remote areas. These supplies fall into the following
categories:
-
Vaccines
-
Essential medicines*
-
Medical oxygen
-
Assorted medical supply kits (i.e.
"hospital-in-a-box")
-
Propane gas
-
Spare parts for refrigerators, lights, sterilizers
and vehicles
*Essential medicines are those that satisfy the health
care needs of the majority of the population and should therefore be
available at all times in adequate amounts and in the appropriate dosage
forms. The choice of such medicines depends on many factors, such as the
pattern of prevalent diseases; treatment facilities; training and experience
of the available health care personnel; financial resources; as well as
genetic, demographic and environmental factors.
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Does VillageReach purchase the
goods it transports/delivers?
As a solutions provider, VillageReach does not actually purchase goods.
These goods are procured by the government of the host country and then distributed
by VillageReach according to need.
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What is the objective of your program model and how
will you apply it to improve services for the poor?
The objective of the VillageReach
Model is to improve the quality and reach of essential services, like health
care, in the developing world. In Mozambique, we are working with the
Foundation for Community Development (FDC), the Ministry of Health, and
other partners to improve health logistics systems in remote communities. To
achieve this goal, we are upgrading the existing health care infrastructure
while introducing innovative tools, technologies, and best practices that
increase the local capacity to improve and expand health services.
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What steps will your project undertake to realize its objectives?
Over the next three years, we will expand our pilot project in northern
Mozambique to reach a total of 5 million people with improved health
services. We will provide regular deliveries of vaccines, medicines and
medical supplies to remote health facilities throughout the region and will
track the availability and usage of the goods we deliver. In addition, new
equipment such as propane-powered refrigerators and lamps will be installed to
ensure proper storage of temperature-sensitive vaccines and improved
lighting for nighttime emergencies. We will also pursue projects in two
additional countries to validate our model. We
will evaluate and document the effectiveness of our model during this time
and disseminate our findings. Our activities will concentrate on
strengthening the health logistics infrastructure in the regions of interest
via targeted improvements in the following areas: cold chain, transport
management, waste management, communication, and energy.
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How is your approach innovative or different from existing programs that
are addressing similar problems?
Many
programs attempt to solve one specific aspect of a systemic problem without
acknowledging the interdependence of several related activities.
VillageReach takes an integrated, system-wide approach to solving problems
that recognizes the complex set of relationships contributing to the overall
strength of public services. For instance, while our Northern Mozambique
Demonstration Program is focusing primarily on enhancing and expanding the reach of
health care services, our activities highlight the vital role that economic
development and environmental stewardship play to improve quality of life.
By working closely with government and local partners, we can creatively and
cost-effectively address chronic shortfalls within the public services
sector while ensuring long-term, national-level engagement from the outset.
Our unique model includes income generation from activities that benefit the
communities we serve in addition to the receipt of contributions from
government beneficiaries.
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What are the expected outcomes of your program? Whom will they benefit?
How are they measurable?
By
establishing a robust and dependable health care infrastructure to support
public services, our activities directly benefit health workers in addition
to those who receive care. These broad-based improvements build public
confidence in health services - a critical element in the success of public
service-based initiatives such as national immunization programs. Renewed
public confidence also paves the way for future initiatives by reducing the
initial barriers that often discourage the expansion and improvement of
services for remote populations. Expected outcomes include:
-
Improved access to
health care
-
Empowerment of
health care workers
-
Improved quality of
health services
-
Expanded outreach
activities
-
New opportunities
for local economic growth
We are working together with the Mozambique Ministry of Health to track the
success of our demonstration program using the following indicators: Stock-outs,
vaccine wastage rates, equipment downtime, percent of on-time deliveries,
vehicle availability, and cost per health facility.
We also will be conducting periodic surveys to monitor and assess public
perceptions of health care services.
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How will your programs be sustainable in the long-term?
Our
model includes a number of activities that focus on ensuring effective,
long-term improvements through innovative problem-solving:
-
We have built a broad network of strategic partners that help us to achieve
maximum effectiveness while securing a broad base of support both locally
and internationally.
-
We are working closely with the Ministry of Health at every stage of
implementation to ensure that our project becomes an integral part of the
Mozambique government’s national initiative to improve health services.
-
The program is managed and staffed locally and we conduct a variety of
capacity-building activities to empower community members to improve
services beyond the scope of our project.
-
We work with our local partners to select and procure the most suitable
equipment and to establish standard processes (e.g. preventive maintenance)
that ensure the longevity and usability of this equipment.
To secure long-term financial viability of our programs, we are pursuing
income generation opportunities including the operation of a for-profit
venture that will further enhance community services in the regions served.
Additionally, we have secured a long-term commitment from the Ministry of
Health to cover a growing percentage of program operating costs.
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What is the possibility of implementing your idea
in a different country or region?
Our model
is designed to be fully scalable and replicable for application in a variety
of country settings. We have identified a set of key criteria that the
target region must meet in order to be a candidate for our services. Once
these criteria are met, we will be able to apply and modify our model as
needed in order to address the particular needs of the target region. It is
our belief that the underlying causes of shortfalls within the public
services sector of developing countries are often very similar. We use these
similarities as a starting point to address widespread systemic problems on
the assumption that our strategies will be effective in various country
settings as long as specific regional needs are taken into consideration.
Through our current demonstration program, we are refining our model to produce a
universal implementation strategy and operational plan that will guide its
replication in other countries and regions.
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Why have you chosen Mozambique as the site for your
demonstration program?
Blaise
Judja-Sato, president and founder of VillageReach, became familiar with the
severe problems plaguing the Mozambique health care system after
his
experience coordinating relief assistance to flood victims in the southern
part of the country. Through this experience, he became involved with the
local Foundation for Community Development (FDC)
and soon a partnership developed around the mutual desire to develop
effective ways to strengthen a system badly in need of improvement.
Due to the geographical
distribution of Mozambique's population, millions of people in the most
remote regions of the country have severely limited access to essential
health services like immunization. This lack of access impedes efforts to
fight infectious disease, further taxing the resource-poor public health
system. Because of its particularly rugged conditions and isolated
populations, VillageReach and FDC considered Mozambique to be the ideal
place to prove a model intended for application in the most challenging
settings.
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