Support from the Global Health Security Agenda
Implemented in collaboration with the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) – a global initiative to advance a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats – the USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project set up an emergency supply chain to help Burkina Faso deal with epidemics and pandemics. During health emergencies, a country’s ability to respond to and contain infectious disease outbreaks depends greatly on its ability to mobilize staff and provide and resupply its health systems with essential infection prevention and control commodities, specifically through a One Health approach.
Employed globally by health international organizations, GHSA and GHSC-PSM used the One Health approach in Burkina Faso to strengthen the country’s emergency response. One Health focuses on collaborative, multisectoral and transdisciplinary intervention, working locally, regionally, nationally and globally with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes by recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment.
To this end, GHSC-PSM launched the Emergency Supply Chain National Team (ESC-NT), made up of clinical doctors, epidemiologists, veterinaries, environmentalists, agricultural specialists and pharmacists from seven key ministries:
- Ministry of Animal and Fisheries Resources
- Ministry of Health
- Ministry of the Environment
- Green Economy and Climate Change
- Ministry of Agriculture and Hydro-Agricultural Development
- Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Development
- Ministry of Women, National Solidarity and the Family
- Ministry of National Defense and Veterans Affairs
- Ministry of Security
- Ministry of Transport and Urban Mobility
The ESC-NT working group has been holding weekly meetings to help the country prepare to respond effectively to epidemic or pandemic threats. Central to the group’s meetings and plans is maintaining the One Health approach to ensure the proper response to health emergencies.