PEPFAR Implementing Partner
Home About Us Countries Working With Us Resource Center Jobs Prices & E-Catalog
ABOUT US
 
 
Home > About Us

Overview

By the end of 2008, some four million people had access to antiretroviral therapy in low- and middle-income countries—a dramatic 36 percent increase over the year before and a five-fold increase in five years. SCMS alone now provides antiretroviral medicines for about one million people per year.


Funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), SCMS brings together 13 private sector, nongovernmental and faith-based organizations that are among the most trusted names in supply chain management and international public health and development. With offices in 18 countries including the United States and more than 450 dedicated staff members around the world, we are helping to improve the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS in some of the countries most severely impacted by the pandemic. SCMS procures essential medicines and supplies at affordable prices; helps strengthen and build reliable, secure and sustainable supply chain systems; and fosters coordination of key stakeholders.



How SCMS Works
SCMS Brochure

SCMS helps to reduce the price of essential medicines by working closely with clients to plan future procurement, pooling orders to buy in bulk, establishing long-term contracts with manufacturers and purchasing generic alternatives whenever possible.


We offer clients a rapid, regular and reliable supply by storing forecasted quantities of the most frequently requested essential medicines,


HIV test kits and other products close to the point of use at regional distribution centers (RDCs) in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. The RDCs follow commercial best practices to ensure security and quality of the products as well as timely delivery.



Our Approach
  • Working with and strengthening existing systems, not creating parallel or duplicate systems
  • Building local capacity, empowering in-country partners to enhance and develop sustainable and appropriate responses for their own communities
  • Delivering quality HIV/AIDS medicines and supplies at the best value by leveraging industry best practices for planning, procurement, storage and distribution
  • Promoting transparency to ensure accurate and timely supply chain information is collected, shared and used to improve decision making
  • Collaborating with in-country and international partners to identify needs, fill gaps, avoid duplication and share best practices

In The News


PRI’s The World

On World AIDS Day (December 1, 2008). PRI’s The World aired the story, "Delivering AIDS Drugs: The Long Journey" by reporter David Baron. Listen to the story or read the transcript.


AIDSLink (March/April 2007 Issue). Breaking through Barriers: Delivering Essential Medicines in the Developing World. Download

 

InterAction's Mondays Develpment (December 18, 2006 Issue).  SCMS - Strengthening Supply Chains in the Global Response to HIV/AIDS. Download

 

U4 Brief (October 2006 Issue). Corruption in the Health Sector: Preventing Drug Diversion Through Supply Chain Management. Download

MISSION


To strengthen or establish secure, reliable, cost-effective and sustainable supply chains to meet the care and treatment needs of people living with or affected by HIV and AIDS.


In collaboration with in-country and international partners, SCMS:


1. Deploys innovative solutions to assist programs to enhance their supply chain capacity


2. Ensures accurate supply chain information is collected, shared and used


3. Provides quality, best-value, health care products to those who need them

RELATED CONTENT


How can you get the most out of the SCMS Website? Learn how to use this site


Learn more about how SCMS works!
Access our English brochure
Access our French brochure
Read our Technical Briefs


Access SCMS Report: Three Years of Saving Lives.

The Supply Chain Management System (scms) is implemented by the Partnership for Supply Chain Management, Inc. This website was made possible through the support of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of contract no. GPO-I-00-05-00032-00. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of USAID or the US government.