When we think of the response to health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, we often think about governments and the responsibilities that public institutions have. I mean to protect the health of their people is an implicit function of governments. But an endeavor with the urgency and scale of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign requires more than just the public sector. Healthcare stakeholders across the board would have to be mobilized to drive the success of the campaigns. Public-private partnerships would need to be leveraged and maintained to ensure that vaccines are rolled out efficiently. So far, we’ve seen companies like mPharma assist in sourcing and providing vaccines in Ghana. We’ve seen private companies in Nigeria leasing their commercial refrigerators to the government for vaccine storage. We’ve seen some other private companies helping deliver vaccines to remote areas using drones.
In this episode, we explore one instance of these public-private partnerships. You’ll learn about the non-profit called VillageReach. VillageReach was founded in 2000 to increase access to vaccines and medical equipment in Mozambique by solving supply chain challenges. Since then, the organization has expanded its geographical reach and its mission. I speak with Dr. Alinafe Kasiya, the Country Director for VillageReach Malawi. We discussed VillageReach’s mission, its approach to fulfilling that mission in Malawi and in other parts of Africa and the nature of future public-private partnerships that can help African countries cope better with future pandemics.
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