The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) helps the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia to introduce cutting edge technology, which expands access to quality health services and products for all Ethiopians.
The technology officially launched today will be used by Ethiopian Food and Drug Administration (EFDA), according to the press statement from the United States Embassy in Addis Ababa. The electronic Regulatory Information System (eRIS) launched at the event is an open source, locally-developed and maintained software system that ensures that EFDA can maintain an unbroken chain of information from licensing and registration to import and quality assurance.
“This means that EFDA can track medicines all the way from international (or local) suppliers to the ports, to the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Agency’s (EPSA’s) warehouses and finally to each clinic across the country,” the statement said.
The healthcare supply chain that connects drug manufacturers to patients is dependent on agile systems to ensure medicines get to where they are needed, when they are needed. The EFDA plays an essential role in this revolution and in ensuring that these facilities have the quality medicines and health products they need.
One of the pillars of Ethiopian Ministry of Health’s strategy to transform the health sector is the “Information Revolution” which seeks to employ cutting-edge methods and practices for collecting, analyzing, presenting, and disseminating information that can influence decisions in the process of transforming the health sector.
USAID and its partner John Snow Inc. (JSI) have been working with the Ministry of Health throughout the past 25 years to improve the health of Ethiopians.
The United States is the largest bilateral donor to Ethiopia’s health sector, with approximately $150 million per year in funding for HIV/AIDS; malaria; maternal, neonatal and child health; nutrition; tuberculosis; and water, sanitation and hygiene.
Overall, the United States has provided approximately $4 billion in development and humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia over the past five years.