In September this year a new senior management team for the Central Medical Stores (CMS) in Botswana was introduced to CMS staff and members of the national and local press. The role of the team is to help transform CMS into a world-class distributor of pharmaceuticals and other medical products to Botswana's public health system. This includes 700 health facilities across the country. At the same time the team will manage CMS' transition from a government department to a semi-autonomous parastatal - a key factor in the long term stability of the drug supply system.
The team of experts unveiled by the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Newman Kahiya, has been deployed under the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS), a project funded by USAID as part of PEPFAR (The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).
Crown Agents USA is the managing partner for SCMS in Botswana, one of 16 countries in which SCMS currently operates.
The highly skilled team, which will be shadowed by key CMS senior staff in order to build local capacity, comprises:
- Tom Brown - Chief Operating Officer (COO) (Crown Agents)
- Meryl Bengtsson - Human Resources Director (Crown Agents)
- David Terpstra - Procurement Director (Crown Agents)
- Eugene van de Walt - Operations Director
- Michael Heine Tilma - Finance and Administration Director (Crown Agents)
- Steven Adamson - Quality Assurance Director
The new management strategy resulted from a study undertaken by the Ministry of Health in 2006 to identify ways to improve the procurement, warehousing and distribution system of medication. In a country such as Botswana, where the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus in the population has been explosive, efficient systems that promote sustainable availability of ARVs are essential. The study helped highlight the many challenges the CMS faced such as unavailability of critical items, long delivery lead-times, expiration of products and an inadequate supply chain.
This team will oversee the transformation that will assist the Botswana Ministry of Health to achieve its vision of being a leader in providing an efficient and effective health service that is consistent with global standards.