Cyclone Idai hit over a month ago and while the news cycle is winding down, the struggles to rebuild the communities and the stories of those impacted have only just begun. Numbers can hardly express the level of impact that the cyclone has had on the lives of Mozambicans. It is reading first-hand stories – like the story of baby Sara who was born in a mango tree while flood waters rose – that show the impact of the storm.
Read full storyHelena José Virgílio, José Maria, and Pedro Terezanane represent hundreds of heroes who, come rain or come shine, guarantee the availability of medicines and other medical commodities in health centers. As a result, patients countrywide have access to the medicines they need. In addition to being the day-to-day heroes who ensure the availability of medicines in the health centers, they share the same expectations for the introduction of the Last Mile Supply Chain program.
Read full storyTo transform health care delivery in far-reaching areas of Mozambique, it takes creativity, thinking outside of the box, resilience and strong commitment. It also requires a team approach and a lot of early buy-in. Engaging with a wide variety of stakeholders and being inclusive of a range of voices from the start is paramount to the work that we do at VillageReach, and particularly with a new and evolving technology like drones.
Read full storyWhen we think about innovation, what often comes to mind are software and smartphones. But sometimes, innovation is what you end up with when trying to solve a problem. In Mozambique, we did this by finding a way to coordinate drivers who were already traveling near health facilities to help with lab sample delivery. Last week, after six months of planning the approach and adapting the mobile application, AmosTaxi was born.
Read full storyImagine this: you have a cough. At first, it’s annoying, but you try to ignore it. It grows more persistent and you start worrying about getting your kids sick, so you decide to go see a health professional. Now imagine the nearest clinic is 10 kilometres away or more — and even though you’re coughing and tired, you have to walk or ride a bike to get there. You have taken time away from work and used precious financial resources to get to the clinic. Once you arrive, the health worker decides to test you for tuberculosis (TB), and says to return in 2–3 weeks for your results, as the health facility does not have a laboratory on-site.
The day of your follow-up arrives, and you again make the 10 kilometre trip back to the clinic. But there is only disappointing news: they couldn’t get the specimen to the laboratory fast enough, and therefore the test could not be conducted. They recommend that you travel even further to a different facility and repeat the test. Meanwhile, your family has also started coughing. Feel frustrated? Or hopeless? This is a reality that VillageReach along with DFID Mozambique, Ministry of Health, and other partners are trying to change in rural Mozambique.
And we are doing it using drones.
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On the road in Mozambique.
What if…? These two words can be a spark for innovation. At VillageReach, our work often begins with this question. We start with big, promising ideas and work towards creating evidence of their impact in the hardest-to-reach communities. We are excited by our latest Grand Challenges Explorations award rooted in what-if thinking.
What if we can use ride-sharing for faster lab results?
Read full storyWith the endorsement of the Addis Declaration on Immunisation, African leaders demonstrated their commitment to life-saving immunizations. The Declaration names a number of components – ten, in fact – crucial to realizing the full benefits of immunization. But there are many more pieces in the day-to-day work of getting vaccines to children. These are the pieces I think about as I do my part in reaching global vaccine goals.
Depending on the day, I’m thinking about things like this:
Read full storyCom a aprovação da Declaração de Adis Abeba sobre a Imunização, os líderes africanos manifestaram o seu compromisso para com as imunizações que salvam vidas. A Declaração indica várias componentes – de fato dez – que são decisivas para realizarem-se os plenos benefícios da imunização. Mas existem muitos mais elementos no trabalho quotidiano de fazer chegar as vacinas às crianças. Estes são os pedaços nos quais penso enquanto dou a minha contribuição para alcançar as metas para as vacinas a nível mundial.
Dependendo do dia, estou a pensar em coisas tais como as seguintes:
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Em Moçambique, um grupo de parceiros tem trabalhado em colaboração com o governo para melhorar o acesso aos medicamentos na última milha. Uma abordagem inovadora reuniu os conhecimentos da VillageReach, Médicos Sem Fronteiras (MSF) e de uma empresa local 3PL, Confiança Absoluta, para apoiar a meta do governo provincial de Tete, de alcançar as comunidades mais remotas com vacinas e medicamentos contra o HIV. Essa abordagem, chamada de Terceirização dos Serviços de Transporte (TST), usou o sector privado para distribuir vacinas, medicamentos contra o HIV, e kits médicos para os serviços de saúde. Um novo estudo explora o potencial desta abordagem, enquanto o governo está projetando expandir de um projeto piloto para a província completa e além.
Collaboration is at the heart of a unique public-private initiative to increase availability for a range of health products in Mozambique. Tete provincial health authorities, Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), and VillageReach have partnered with the private sector company Confianca Absoluta to bring HIV medicines, vaccines and medical kits to rural health clinics. A new case study looks at the first six months of this initiative. It outlines the details of the partnership, benefits to date including increased availability and efficiency, and considerations for governments interested in outsourcing as a way to improve transport for essential medicines.
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