While the Government of Rwanda (GOR) has achieved significant progress in public health care delivery, there are still areas for improvements in its health care system, particularly in the supply chain (SC) for health commodities. Established in 2020, Rwanda Medical Supply, Ltd. (RMS) has centralized the distribution of health commodities sourced from different providers by aggregating them its central headquarters in Kigali. These commodities are distributed to health facilities through branches located in each of Rwanda’s 30 districts. As a key player in supply chain management, RMS contributes significantly to streamlining processes and ensuring consistent access to health commodities.
To support the effectiveness and efficiency of Rwanda’s health commodity SC, USAID/Rwanda has provided material support to RMS’s operations through the Transforming Rwanda’s Medical Supply (TRMS) Activity. This Activity is significant, because several of USAID/Rwanda’s other health investments rely on the sufficient stock of accessible, high-quality health commodities. USAID/Rwanda has requested that ME&A – through the Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting Activity (CLAA) – conduct third-party monitoring (TPM) of the TRMS Activity, to independently track and measure the Activity’s progress toward its intended outcomes. In turn, ME&A subcontracted the Center for Impact, Innovation, and Capacity-building for Health Information Systems and Nutrition (CIIC-HIN) to conduct TPM activities.
This report presents findings from a baseline assessment of the SC conducted in 2023 with the aim of establishing baseline values for key performance indicators (KPIs), which will be tracked over the life of the TRMS Activity to measure its outcomes.