Resources

Africa’s pharmaceutical industry has undergone tremendous growth in all sectors over the years. This growth can be attributed to improvements in infrastructure, health care capacity, and business environment.The COVID-19 pandemic, however, brought to light the critical need for a more structured, robust, and resilient manufacturing sector for the continent. The industry was pushed by crisis to pick up the pace at establishing harmony within its different sectors, ensuring that they largely serve communities within Africa, and reduce over-reliance on pharmaceutical imports.This crisis also prompted increased political support for local medical products manufacturing, leading to a substantial expansion of African pharmaceutical manufacturing.

In Satara, PATH is applying a human-centered design (HCD) approach to redesign the health care system by removing barriers that hinder the utilization of primary health care services, both from the perspective of demand and supply.Our HCD approach includes:Behavioral barrier assessment: We delve into the behavioral dynamics affecting the utilization of PHC services and redesign care-seekers' pathways to facilitate better access and engagement.Redesigning PHC services for women: Our efforts are directed towards restructuring PHC services to minimize the number of touch points required for women to access care, thereby facilitating early detection of health conditions among women.Culturally appropriate community-centered solutions: We facilitated the formation of patient support groups tailored to the cultural context, aimed at improving medical treatment adherence for chronic conditions and enhancing awareness about health conditions within the community.

PATH is deploying cutting-edge technologies in Satara to advance climate proofing of health systems and accelerate early diagnosis of health conditions. These innovations are assisting health care workers to screen cancers and heart disorders, and overcome logistical hurdles in transporting temperature-sensitive products like vaccines in hard to reach areas.

Teams at PATH are working to ensure that primary health care (PHC) caters to the unique needs of every community—particularly marginalized populations. We are broadening the PHC benefit package in alignment with Ayushman Arogya Mandir guidelines, encompassing care for noncommunicable diseases, anemia, and neglected tropical diseases such as snakebite envenoming and rabies.

PATH is actively supporting the digitization of primary health care in line with the vision of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, by implementing a comprehensive primary health care (CPHC) application. This application will serve as centralized data entry point, capturing information at both community and facility levels. It will help to streamline processes, enhance user experience for both service providers and recipients, and alleviate the administrative burden on health care staff.