NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - CareShop Ghana: Improving Access to Essential Drugs through Conversion Franchising - Comments

CIA for CareShop

Julia Tran — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:49:22 -0500

Hi Peter, thanks for the follow-up! I just sent you an email on possible next steps.

Julia

Follow up on the Care Shop initiative and Study

Peter Burgess — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:21:58 -0500

Dear Julia

Thank you for your comment ... comments.

I have been a critic of "studies" for as long as I can remember, not because of the study and the report and presentation, but because they so ofter served as an excuse for not doing (in the case of donors and governments ... not funding) important works that needed doing. You observe ... quite correctly that these case studies are important, but only when they are read and used. So this is your first comment ... and I would say that I am trying to make the Community Impact Accountancy (CIA) and Tr-Ac-Net a vehicle for getting active follow up on study work that is starting the ball rolling ... and needs ongoing follow up and feedback ... and indeed funding.

With regard to your second point ... bringing CIA into play with Care Shop, I would be absolutely delighted. What might be the first step in doing this?

Sincerely

Peter Burgess
www.tr-ac-net.org
peterbnyc@gmail.com

Case study into action

Julia Tran — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:39:56 -0500

As one of the case's authors, I very much agree that a case study in itself will not solve any problems, and that it's the actions taken due to the case study that will count.

Though I'm no longer working with WRI, I can say that WRI's "What Works" cases have been the basis of some of WRI's more action-oriented work. The knowledge from the case studies in the health sector, for example, has been used to engage with several different development organizations to promote or support work in private sector based healthcare delivery. As a think tank, however, WRI has had limited ability to take on direct roles with the case study enterprises, such as funding or managing them in any sense.

The best hope the case studies have of generating active involvement and funds for the enterprises is through their readership. I'd be thrilled if those who know of CareShop through the case study were interested to contribute to the enterprise in some way. If, Peter, you'd be interested to offer CIA reporting to CareShop, or if other readers would like to contact CareShop regarding other possibilities, I would be happy to help in making the connection.

Drug supply improvement in Africa

Peter Burgess — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:18:22 -0500

The case study of CareShop Ghana is, in my view, well done ... but the value of the study is only going to be realized if there is appropriate follow through.

But it is far from clear that there will be appropriate follow through ... the global health system and the international development assistance community are good at studies and writing reports, and not so good at turning the issues raised and the recommendations into action that solves the problems. The issues are big and the funding available limited, and frequently allocated to low impact work.

The issue of drug supply has been around since I first working in the development arena 30 years or more ago ... some of the issues are far worse now than in earlier times, including the sophistication of the drugs and the counterfeits.

My organization has a big concern over sustainability ... and has developed the concept of Community Impact Accountancy (CIA) to help the donor community appreciate the social good that is being created by some organizations that are having difficulties with their financial sustainability.

If CareShop Ghana were the subject of CIA reporting, it might well be a slam dunk for it to get the funding it needs to keep going ... with GAAP reports the raison d'etre for the initiative is totally ignored, which, we would argue, is pretty silly.

Sincerely

Peter Burgess

CareShop Ghana: Improving Access to Essential Drugs through Conversion Franchising

Julia Tran — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:59:27 -0500

Date of talk or publication:
March 2008

Organization:
World Resources Institute

Description:

In Ghana, easily preventable or curable infectious illnesses, such as malaria and diarrheal diseases, are leading causes of death and exacerbate the financial hardships of many families. An inadequate public healthcare infrastructure is unable to cope with the magnitude of Ghana's infectious disease prevalence, leading many patients to seek health advice and treatment from the private sector. Licensed chemical sellers (LCS), authorized by the Ghana Pharmacy Council to dispense over-the-counter drugs, are present across Ghana and are often the first point-of-call for many Ghanaians, yet LCS themselves often do not have access to local suppliers of high quality medicines.