Launch of two reports on Access to Medicine
In 2015 the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) approved funding for AAI to co-ordinate a new project to promote transparency and accountability initiatives within Southern Africa with a particular focus on access to medicines.
The overall aim of the project is to increase confidence and capacity by citizens through the civil society in selected SADC countries to demand effective and efficient access to medicines services from governments, private sector and funding partners.
Mapping Report of Civil Society and A2M – November 2015
As part of the preliminary process in terms of rolling out the new project, during November 2015 a special mapping exercise was conducted to collate information needed for a database of all key organisations actively involved on access to medicines issues across Southern Africa.
In particular, the outcome of the mapping process will seek to provide a map of civil society and other relevant stakeholders who could be engaged in advocacy work focused on the promotion of transparency and accountability issues with regards to access to medicines across Southern Africa.
In general terms, the mapping exercised was spread across all the ten countries that are covered by OSISA. Namely, Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. There was also an analysis of the entire pan African and global organisations that are also active in the region.
Further to that, a special and more detailed mapping exercise was conducted in four of the targeted ten countries. Namely, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This is so because the four countries are set to be the ones most likely to be targeted in terms of the initial advocacy interventions to be conducted under this initiative to promote increased transparency and accountability on access to medicines issues across Southern Africa.
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The State of Transparency and Accountability on A2M – 2016
As part of the preliminary process in terms of rolling out the new project, during November 2015 a special survey was designed to collate information needed in the development of a special report focusing on the ‘State of Transparency and Accountability in Access to Medicines in Southern Africa’.
The survey constituted a series of inter-related questions that sought to clarify the situation with regards to access to medicines related issues from an accountability perspective. Among highlighting some of the key aspects on transparency and accountability with regards to access to medicines in Southern Africa, the survey also sought to establish the status of missed targets by SADC governments
Further, the survey sought to shed more light on the current capacity of civil society to play its role as a trusted and reliable watchdog for society in terms of access to medicines in the SADC region. The responses from the survey developed the basis for this report focusing on the ‘State of Transparency and Accountability in Access to Medicines in Southern Africa’.