Pharmaceutical Supply Chain in Ethiopia: Strengthening HR Management and Practice 

(2023 – Present)

In November 2023 with support from the Gates Foundation, AIHA launched a new project to strengthen human resource management and practices in Ethiopia’s pharmaceutical supply chain workforce to improve the availability of pharmaceutical commodities throughout the country. Click here to read the news release announcing the project.

“Efficient medicines supply systems are integrally linked to strong health care systems. Adequate human resources, sustainable financing, comprehensive information systems, and coordinated healthcare partners and institutions are key components to ensure uninterrupted availability and accessibility of essential medicines. Long term supply strategies are absent in many countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.”

          – World Health Organization

The project is focusing on building the capacity of the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Service (EPSS) in areas including division of labor, workflow management, and collaboration with the private sector. In response to identified gaps, AIHA is building institutional and human resource capacity at EPSS through targeted training and mentorship on financial management, leadership, communication and information management, and other critical competencies.

Furthermore, this project leverages AIHA’s expertise in building the capacity of the health workforce and provides support through various capacity building and leadership training AIHA has been delivering through other projects we’ve been implementing in Ethiopia with Gates Foundation support, as well as those supported by other funders.

Project Start Up Activities

The AIHA team joined EPSS leadership for a project kickoff meeting in Addis Ababa on Dec. 13, 2023.

AIHA and a team of EPSS leadership conducted a kickoff meeting in December 2023 to lay the groundwork for the first year of the project. They finalized the project workplan Jan. 3, 2024, with key focus areas being:

  • Determining efficient division of labor;
  • Developing strong, effective leadership;
  • Strengthening human resource policies, practices, and leadership capacity;
  • Researching and establishing optimal physical resource capacity, including office space and necessary equipment and resources;
  • Designing an efficient information management system;
  • Developing effective work flow management policies and procedures;
  • Exploring national and regional South-South partnerships with the private sector, such as Ethiopian Airlines, Coca-Cola, and other similar organizations in Kenya, Tanzania, or South Africa; and
  • Exploring opportunities to establish a twinning partnership that will allow EPSS staff to learn from the experiences of a similar institution in Africa or elsewhere.

In March 2024, a project team attended the People That Deliver (PtD) Global Indaba in Bangkok, Thailand, to learn about workforce solutions to supply chain issues from more than 250 of their peers from some 60 countries around the world.

AIHA engaged an expert consultant team who, in June 2024, conducted an organizational capacity and needs assessment of EPSS’s Human Resource Administration and Development Workforce. The main purpose of this assessment was to examine  competencies and gaps of the EPSS workforce, in particular the HR department, leaders across other departments, and the record keeping and documentation team at both the head office and eight selected regional hubs in Addis Ababa (2), Arba Minch, Bahir Dar, Gambella, Jimma, Jigjiga, and Shire.

The assessment was conducted based on EPSS’s HR Competency Framework, its current guiding document, which uses knowledge and capability as core competency parameters and four levels – intrinsic, essential, advanced, and strategic – as competence status measures. Accordingly, the two parameters and four status measures were used in AIHA’s assessment to help EPSS build upon its own existing framework.

A key goal of this project is to ensure equal access to pharmaceuticals throughout Ethiopia by training relevant human resources and establishing effective policies and practices. Improving capacity and efficiencies will help the country move medicines and related supplies first from warehouses to communities and then to the people who need them.

Key Assessment Findings

Assessment findings are being used to develop an HR Improvement Plan and Competency Graduation Model, which is serving to guide project activities moving forward. The organizational assessment revealed that most existing deficiencies fell into the following three categories:

  • Policy Gaps – Lack of HR policies on record management, standards, procedures, and continuous professional development  for non-health staff.
  • System Gaps – Absence of responsible units for occupational health and safety and risk management; limited access to working equipment (e.g., computer); weak planning and processes for succession, career development, coaching, and mentoring; delayed automation of records management systems, especially at the hub level; lack of knowledge management and sharing systems; and limited access to capacity development and experience sharing.
  • Capacity Building – Knowledge and skills gaps were identified across key competency areas for all categories of study participants; lack of working manuals and standard operating procedures such as customer management, succession planning, and career development.

Working in close collaboration with the EPSS team and other stakeholders, AIHA is addressing these critical gaps through a variety of targeted, evidence-based capacity-building interventions. AIHA is also in the process of recruiting several subject matter experts drawn from the Ethiopia Diaspora, who will be placed within the EPSS HR Directorate to provide on-site technical assistance and mentoring to help bridge gaps in existing human resource capacity.

Additionally, AIHA is drawing on the human resource and training capacity we’ve already built through our Leadership Incubation Program for Health (LIP-H) to develop strong, effective leaders at EPSS.

As of December 2024, we have:

  • Introduced LIP-H training for the EPSS HR Directorate at the Head Office, as well as at 19 regional hubs
  • Registered a total of 51 EPSS staff for LIP-H training (41 men and 10 women), 36 of whom passed the screening stage and qualified for the interview phase
  • Accepted 30 individuals into the first cohort of LIP-H for EPSS training (13 from Head Office and 17 from hubs)
  • Conducted an LIP-H for EPSS training module customization workshop to adapt existing leadership content to the EPSS HR and supply chain context

Twinning Partnership to Build Institutional and Human Resource Capacity

In September 2024, AIHA established a twinning partnership between EPSS and Transaid Worldwide Services, a UK-based organization with significant experience working with African governments and organizations to build their capacity. Transaid is providing technical assistance to the EPSS team to strengthen and expand its human resources capacity and processes. Transaid has already completed a situational analysis and is in the process of preparing an action and implementation plan in collaboration with the EPSS team. Next steps for the partnership include implementation support and documentation.

 

Updated January 24, 2025.