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A new study by doctoral student Maabo Kludze and Assistant Professor Mustafa Hussein examines how Kenya and Uganda are working to improve access to essential medicines.
Published in Global Health Action, the scoping review identifies three strategies that may help strengthen medicines supply chains in sub-Saharan Africa: using national essential medicines lists to guide purchasing and financing, giving local governments greater authority to respond to community needs, and investing in domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Reliable access to essential medicines is central to universal health coverage, the researchers say, yet an estimated 2 billion people worldwide cannot consistently obtain the medications they need. In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), supply chains are affected by limited funding, fragmented distribution systems, weak inventory data, and challenges forecasting demand.
Kenya and Uganda offer instructive examples for LMICs in general and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, the authors write. Kenya’s 2023 Essential Medicines List includes 696 medicines, while Uganda’s list includes 784. Both countries have also adopted decentralized health systems intended to bring decisions about health services and medical supplies closer to local communities.
The researchers note that expanding domestic manufacturing could reduce reliance on imports and help protect medicines availability. Uganda’s Buy Uganda, Build Uganda policy, for example, has supported growth in local pharmaceutical production, though imported medicines remain more widely available.
“Essential medicines are a critical foundation of universal health coverage,” says Dr. Hussein. “Countries need resilient systems to forecast demand, purchase medicines, store them safely, and deliver them equitably.”
National medicines lists are most effective when they are integrated into broader policies on procurement, financing, local decision-making, and manufacturing, the authors say. Together, these approaches could help countries build more reliable and equitable systems for getting lifesaving medicines to patients.
