Pharmaceutical Access and Health Systems Strengthening

Our Programs

The Challenge

Access to medicines is a fundamental component of the right to health, yet for millions of Rwandans, geography, cost, and system failures place essential medicines out of reach. Stockouts of critical medicines, fragmented supply chains, inadequate community-based dispensing systems, and the exclusion of NCD medications from community insurance schemes create life-threatening gaps.

These gaps fall disproportionately on rural communities, elderly patients, people with chronic conditions, and those too poor to absorb out-of-pocket costs.

Our Approach

THREE STRATEGIC LEVERS:

01
Supply Chain Advocacy

We engage national pharmaceutical authorities and the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) to address systemic medicine stock-out patterns and advocate for the expansion of the essential medicines list at the community level

02
Insurance and Benefits Advocacy

We document the burden of NCD medications and advocate for their inclusion in the Mutuelle de Santé (community-based health insurance) package, reducing financial barriers to chronic disease management

03
Digitally-Enabled Delivery Models

Drawing on experience co-founding Medconnekt Pharmacy, we support last-mile pharmaceutical delivery innovations that use digital health technologies to bring medicines closer to patients

Key Interventions

  • Medicine access assessments at the community health facility level
  • Advocacy for NCD medication inclusion in Mutuelle de Santé
  • Support for community health workers as pharmaceutical dispensing agents
  • Digital health tools for medicine supply chain monitoring
  • Capacity building for health facility pharmacists and dispensers
  • Evidence generation on pharmaceutical access barriers for vulnerable/high-risk groups