Raffaella Literature Update
The following message is courtesy of Dr Raffaella Ravinetto, Public Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Belgium.
Ref. Maria-Belen Tarrafeta-Sayas, Christophe Rerat, Sophie Pilon, Mieja Vola Rakotonarivo, Louis Dèhoumon Koukpemedji, Serge Yapo, Rachel Duncan, Danielle Hodjo, Landry Stéphane Baki, Aser Minoungou & Raffaella Ravinetto (2026) From supply to strategy: leveraging central medical stores experiences and information for health system strengthening, Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, 19:1, 2649302
Dear Friends,
Today, I would like to share a short Viewpoint written in collaboration with colleagues from African Central Medical Stores (CMS), as well as researchers from the ITM and the WHO, based on discussions and exchanges during an online workshop held in French.
In short, we underline that in many Francophone African countries, CMS play a key role in procuring and distributing medicines for the public sector, thus generating first-hand data and knowledge on availability, pricing, and the performance of national supply chains. Therefore, CMS should be recognised not only as technical providers, but as strategic partners in national pharmaceutical policy and health system governance. The supply-chain data they generate often remains underused, while they could help fill key gaps and inform planning, monitoring, and policy decisions. Please feel free to share it with anyone concerned, as a way to bring this policy message forward!
I also take this opportunity to share a new update of our Informal Fact-sheet on Quality of Medicines.
Have a lovely weekend,
Raffaella