Pharmaceutical Systems Strengthening 101

The course is an introductory level course that would be of benefit to anyone who works with medical products (drugs, vaccines, diagnostics or other devices, supplies etc.) and public health programs that rely on them or who is responsible for strengthening related systems (including regulation, pharmacy practices, financing and priority setting, information systems, and appropriate medicine use).
 
The purpose of the pharmaceutical systems strengthening (PSS) course is to teach participants the basic principles of PSS, including how addressing pharmaceutical system problems advance universal health coverage; combat antimicrobial resistance, HIV and AIDS, malaria, TB, and other public health threats; and promote maternal and child health.

Participants who complete the course should be able to:

• Identify what a country pharmaceutical system is, how it relates to the supply chain system, and how it impacts the broader health system (in terms of service quality, coverage equity, and financial protection/resource optimization) as well as improved health outcomes.
• Demonstrate how USAID’s pharmaceutical systems strengthening approach can lead to more sustainable improvements in medicines access and appropriate use to achieve expected health outcomes.
• Explain how the problem can be better understood by looking at the underlying factors contributing to the problem, and how those factors may be linked to one or more pharmaceutical system and/or health system function.
• Compare alternative strategies for interventions to counter problems of the pharmaceutical systems in similar contexts, taking into account the local situation, political and regulatory considerations, feasibility of implementation, and the resources available.
• Identify methods and tools for evaluating pharmaceutical systems to ensure that the expected outcomes have been achieved.
• Identify specific pharmaceutical system weaknesses in USAID-supported countries that have an impact on USAID’s health goals.
• Identify the effect of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on the health system and demonstrate base knowledge of strategies against AMR.