Kenya Stop Stockouts Team to Meet Health Civil Society

The Kenya Stop Stock- Outs (SSO) Team will on the 4th of November 2009 host Health Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to a half day workshop in Nairobi. The workshop targets all levels of health CSOs- from those working on policy influence to those delivering services especially to the poor and vulnerable.

While majority of the participants are drawn from the Capital, Nairobi, there is deliberate effort to have some representation from the other two cities- Mombasa and Kisumu- to decentralize the campaign.

The Kenyan team has so far been successful in creating of awareness to the public and policy makers through public fora and media engagement. “As we move into policy dialogue with policymakers and politicians, it is critical that we seek the support of other Health CSOs beyond those represented in the SSO team.” Said Emma Wanyonyi of Consumer Information Network

The major objectives of the workshop are:
 Share experiences on access to medicines, stock outs of medicines and efforts towards influencing policies and practices that support sustainable access to medicines
 Popularize the ‘Stop Stock- Outs’ Campaign amongst health CSOs, build support for it and make ‘stock- outs’ a common issue amongst the Health CSOs in Kenya
 Strengthen health CSOs participation in Access to Medicines issues, and promote a joint efforts towards ‘stock outs’ campaign

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Ida : a video interview

Ida lives in Libuyu, a popular compound in Livingstone. She is the head her family as her husband passed away. During her interview she told us her feedback about the medicine stockout problem, particularly in relation to the old drug distribution system, which she considered more transparent and efficient.

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Vivian : a video interview

Vivian works in a public pharmacy situated in the Livingstone area. She’s responsible for receiving medicines stocks from the central drug store and dispatching drug kits to the local clinics.

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Anna : a video interview

Anna is a nurse working in Livingstone, the ex capitol city located in the southern border of Zambia. She works in a public clinic and during her interview she shared her experiences regarding medicine stockouts.

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Phelloner : a video interview

I met Phelloner, a woman living with her family in a compound located in the norther area of Lusaka. She was a victim of a stockout of an essential medicine to treat Malaria. -Claudio

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