E-DRUG: Consultant for essential drug program in Polisario Refugee camps
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Dear E-druggers,
May I ask you for help in our search for a consultant for our essential drug program in the Polisario Refugee camps - which have developed over the last three decades into a quasi mini-state in exile in Algeria. Including an own government, ministries, infrastructure ect.
We are looking for someone who is familiar with essential drug programs in resource constrained settings, the program is basically run by local staff, mostly pharmaceutical assistants who have been trained on the spot, with only one or two academic trained pharmacists.
So in addition to procuring the medicines and establishing a documentation and distribution system, we are much involved in rational use activities - we already developed together with the health and pharmaceutical personnel there, a guide with therapeutic guidelines of primary health care, and also a formulary with the meds on the National Essential Drug List that the program is providing,
The consultant should do trainings with the staff - right now, after a number of trainings that focused more on the managerial/procurement/documentation side of the work of the pharm. Assistants done by our previous consultant, we are thinking now about something more in the field of increasing the knowledge about the use of the medicines so that the patients can be counselled at the counter of the pharmacies in a "community pharmacy" concept.
Necessary is Spanish as working languages within the training (all documents related to the program are in Spanish, most of the refugees are speaking Spanish as their first European language, due to the multiple links to Spanish solidarity groups and also Cuba as a major training site for young professionals) and also English (or French or German) for easier communication with us and for report writing.
It might be also something for a senior expert as it would be one (or two) visits per year.
If you have someone in mind we could ask, this would be great.
Suggestions and direct applications to
Ms. Annelie Koschella: Koschella@medico.de
Best
Andreas