Netlink is a bi- monthly email newsletter of the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (EPN). Its purpose is to keep EPN members in touch and updated on what is going on within the Network. If you would like to contribute or comments on the content, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . This and previous editions of Netlink are available at http://www.epnetwork.org/

Planning

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5

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Health Action International (HAI) to launch access to essential medicines campaign

HAI is spearheading a regional campaign demanding an end to stock outs of essential medicines in public health facilities. The campaign dubbed Stop Stock- outs!, will be launched on 26th February in Kenya through a press conference. It will take place at country level in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. The campaign is calling on governments to meet their obligations to provide essential medicines to its people. EPN will also be involved in this campaign.

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Africa Christian Health Associations biennial Conference

Africa Christian Health Associations will hold their biennial Conference at the Speke Munyonyo Resort & Conference Centre, Kampala, Uganda, on February 23rd-27th, 2009. The Conference will be jointly hosted by CHAK, UPMB and UCMB in collaboration with WCC and other partners. The Conference theme will be “Building partnerships for Health Systems Strengthening in Africa”.  EPN will be represented at the conference by a number of its Board members.

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Treatment literacy guide for church leaders

EPN has finalized putting together an HIV and Aids Treatment Literacy Guide for church leaders. The objective of the manual is to enhance church leaders’ knowledge on HIV and AIDS treatment, care, and support, which will support them to take effective actions in assisting their congregations and communities. It is expected that by using this treatment literacy manual, church leaders will be in a position to take action and change the “terrain” on which HIV/AIDS thrives in the community by fighting stigma and promoting treatment awareness, drug availability, and adherence to treatment.

The first version of the manual was distributed to church leaders during the 9th Assembly for All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) held in Maputo –Mozambique on 8th-12th December 2008. Write to us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information on the manual and how you can get a copy of the document.

You can now access the comprehensive report of the EPN forum held on 15th - 20th June 2008 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The theme of this forum was Pharmaceutical Standards. Key discussions during the forum were on the EPN guidelines and standards, sustainability of Drug Supply Organizations, (DSO’s), Pharmacovigilance and Antimicrobial Resistance.

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Global Fund Partnership Forum- Dakar, Senegal

EPN sponsored Raphaël Edou from BETHESDA, Benin - a member organization of EPN – to attend the Global Fund Partnership Forum. The forum that takes place every two years was held on 8-10 December 2008 in Dakar, Senegal. The forum provides a platform for open discussions on Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria strategies and policies. Its recommendations give guidance to the decisions taken by the Global Fund Board.

Raphaël Edou shared on how faith based organizations are associated and involved in the Global Fund programme and noted that there was not yet much visibility of the work of FBOs despite the fact that they were doing remarkable work in various African countries. Having learnt the application process for applying for Global Fund, Raphaël Edou requested EPN secretariat to continue training its members on project design and project proposals.

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Continuous Pharmaceutical Education for CHAM staff

EPN in collaboration with Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM), on 21st – 24th October 2008 conducted a continuous education training course for pharmacy staff from twenty CHAM Hospitals and Community Hospitals that provide Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) services. The objective of the training was to improve the knowledge of participants on the importance of rational use of ARVs and anti-malarial medicines in order to develop effective interventions which will promote rational use of medicines at the health facilities.

The training equipped participants with a greater knowledge of the National Policy and Treatment Guidelines on HIV & AIDS and Malaria. In addition, the course covered various aspects of the Pharmaceutical Management Cycle such as Inventory Management and Dispensing. Participants shared experiences from each of their facilities and identified problems in the current systems.

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EPN conducts a workshop to address Antimicrobial Resistance

EPN in partnership with Management Sciences for Health (MSH) and USAID on 10th-14th November 2008 conducted a 5 day workshop in Moshi, Tanzania, on local and regional action to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The workshop was held at St Luke’s Foundation (a member organization of EPN).

The purpose of the workshop was to share information on AMR and develop strategies for containment of drug resistance and advocate on appropriate use of medicines particularly the antimicrobial agents that are used for treating infections. The workshop brought together stakeholders from member organizations in 16 countries including clinicians, pharmacists and other health professionals. EPN and its members are calling on everyone to use the numerous strategies available to stop the development of resistance to available medicines in order to save the medicines for the future generations.

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Communications Skills Workshop

On 24th-26th November 2008 EPN conducted a communications workshop for communications persons within our network. The 3 day workshop was held at CHAK Guests house in Nairobi-Kenya. The skills building workshop was attended by 15 participants from 6 countries in Africa. The purpose of the workshop was to equip participants with an understanding of the basic principles of communication and build skills for designing effective communication programmes and campaigns for addressing AMR and to create strong communications network for effective information sharing with EPN members.

Through various tasks, group and plenary discussions participants were guided in identifying a possible communication problem, developing of sample SMART objectives, a series of messages, choosing of possible channels, branding techniques as well as developing strategies for monitoring and evaluating the campaign. The participants helped to refine a call to action document developed during the AMR workshop at Moshi and also developed campaign messages and slogans for AMR campaign.

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Continuous Pharmaceutical Education for BUFMAR staff

Bureau des Formations Médicales Agréées du Rwanda (BUFMAR) in collaboration with EPN conducted a continuous pharmacy training course on HIV from 3rd to 5th December 2008 for its member health facilities. Participants received knowledge with regard to care for People living with HIV, estimation of need of ARVs, store management and rational use of medicines. At the end of the workshop they were encouraged to implement the lessons learnt by addressing the needs and expectations of the community.

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Assessment of pharmaceutical situation

EPN in collaboration with DIFAEM conducted an assessment of the pharmaceutical situation in the FBO Sector in Kinshasha and Kinanga, DRC in December 2008. Further more the assessment was aimed at identifying the needs related to pharmaceutical issues in FBOs and at renewing contact with EPN members in order to enhance further collaboration. The Francophone Programme Officer carried out the assessment. A similar visit is planned for South Kivu.

The assessment provided insight and understanding of the structure of the pharmaceutical sector in DRC and national policies and strategies. FBOs are strongly involved in the implementation of the national pharmaceutical policy. This policy for example foresees Regional Distribution Centers (CDR) for medicines in the form of not-for-profit-Associations. Two of the three CDRs visited evolved from former church DSOs and all three had FBOs on their board. The two main problems for the CDRs were that health districts and centers, which were supposed to buy from CDRs could often not afford the high costs of medicines, mainly due to the high cost of mandatory quality control of all incoming drugs. Secondly, inadequate management skills in health centers made it difficult for the CDRs to properly manage their own stock and estimate their needs.

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Environmentally friendly cooking stoves at Mulanje Mission Hospital

Deforestation has steadily becoming a major environmental problem in Malawi. This is largely due to the fact that almost 80% of the population is using firewood and char-coal for their cooking. Forty-four cooking stoves that use less firewood have been installed at the new Mulanje Mission Hospital kitchen. The stoves are made of bricks and cement and are about 39cm high with an opening at the base for putting firewood and a small opening at the top for the smoke.

The stoves have been designed to retain a lot of heat and concentrate it on the cooking pot hence needing less firewood and providing a longer cooking time while using a quarter the firewood that was required to do the same cooking in the past.

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HIV and AIDS Treatment Literacy workshop- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

EPN in collaboration with Ethiopian Evangelical Church Makane Yesus (EECMY) on 10th -14th November 2008 conducted a Training of Trainers (TOT) on HIV and AIDS treatment literacy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The TOT workshop was to equip the selected local trainers with effective training skills so as to enable them to train the Church leaders on HIV and AIDS treatment literacy. Participants were expected to apply the HIV and AIDS treatment knowledge and skills professionally and train others in their respective churches and community.

EPN learnt from this training, that it is important to have the right combination of trainers in addition to church leaders when training on HIV and Aids treatment. These trainers should include a Doctor or Public health Specialist familiar with HIV & AIDS, a pharmacist, PLHIV and a Nutritionist.

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New Executive Director

Ms. Donna Kusemererwa is the new EPN’s Executive Director. Donna, a former EPN Board member and general manager of Joint Medical Store (JMS) in Uganda, joined EPN as the Deputy Coordinator in September last year, after Dr. Eva Ombaka expressed her wish to retire from active leadership of EPN. In January 2009, Donna became the Executive Director, while Eva is now working as a Technical Advisor to EPN.

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Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA) Assembly- Rome, Italy

Lilies Njanga, EPN’s networking and Administration Programme officer on 17th -19th November 2008, attended the second EAA Assembly that took place in Rome, Italy. During the Assembly, Board Members were elected and areas of advocacy for the next strategy period 2009 – 2012 were also identified. These advocacy areas were HIV & AIDS and Food.  EPN will continue working closely with EAA especially in the area of HIV and AIDS.

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