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Building up medicine depots

In Germany, anyone who becomes ill can get good quality medication from a pharmacy and usually has it available within a few hours. In African countries, this is not a matter of course due to a lack of medicines and pharmaceutical specialists. Difäm therefore supports the establishment and equipment of central pharmacies as medicine depots in countries such as Liberia. They regularly supply church health facilities with low-cost and high-quality medicines.
Ein Apotheker steht vor einem fast leeren Regal für Medikamente im Tschad©Das Foto ist zum Abdruck freigegeben unter Angabe der Quelle: Difäm. by: Joel Bremekamp

In the rural north of Liberia, medicines are often very expensive due to arduous transport routes, the selection of available medicines is limited by supply bottlenecks, and the quality of the available medicines is often poor. Difäm has therefore set up a central pharmacy near the border to Guinea in cooperation with the Christian Health Network (CHAL) in Liberia.

Towards a better supply of medicines

The new central pharmacy now serves as a medicine depot for all clinics and hospitals in the surrounding regions. The regular range of medicines offered by the pharmacy depends on what is needed in the region, for example medicines against infectious diseases and malaria.

The truck of the local Difäm partner network regularly arrives from Monrovia, the capital, with the necessary medicines. The shelves in the warehouse are full. And the storage conditions are ideal despite an ambient temperature of 35 degrees in the shade: a new solar system covers the power supply and thus also the cooling. A total of 1.5 million people in the surrounding country benefit from this.

Training for medicine-related knowledge

Since there is hardly any pharmaceutically qualified staff in the region, the pharmacies in the surrounding hospitals are often run by nurses or aides who have been trained for only a short time. For these persons, who are also responsible for dispensing medicines at the facilities, trainings in pharmaceutical management are held. These include the mode of action of the medicines, but also the organisation of orders and purchases of materials, the storage and dispensing of medicines, and the record-keeping of finances.

Working together for a sustainable health system

The aim of this project is to build a sustainable health system in the country. The Christian Health Network (CHAL) works much like the German Organization Diakonisches Werk and complements the state health system. For example, it supports its more than 60 member facilities throughout the country with the help of Difäm by building up expertise, improving the supply of medicines and providing close technical support for the projects.

The faith-based central pharmacies are united in the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (EPN), of which Difäm has been a board member for many years. Professional exchange, ordering and quality assurance of medicines as well as training of specialists are all part of the joint work of the member facilities.

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