Problem Statement

Citizens of Tanzania, Uganda, and bordering countries do not have reliable access to medicines that can be trusted. This problem exists because many African governments do not have access to the higher education, experience or resources necessary to implement an autonomous pharmaceutical infrastructure. Uganda and Tanzania primarily rely upon corporate charitable donations for supplies with no ability to self-regulate against counterfeit medicines or create their own.BIRS will influence change by focusing upon three key areas of impact: (1) Higher Education – this builds internal capacity, ensuring African countries can ultimately become self-sustaining and self-reliant; (2) Flexible Manufacturing – this will: (a) provide current graduate students with vital hands-on experience under safe, faculty supervision; (b) generate self-sustaining funds for the project; (c) address an urgent health need within the community that will save lives; (d) provide sterile, portable manufacturing units that overcome Africa’s infrastructure limitations; and (3) Counterfeit Analysis – this will reduce dangerous fakes from entering the community, while also providing valuable laboratory experience to Tanzanian and Ugandan graduate students. One small change that has a major impact is successful student recruitment. BIRS works very hard to recruit students in meaningful positions of impact – such as the Tanzania Food and Drug Authority or the Ugandan National Drug Authority. MMM has highly effective recruitment network capabilities. Through these leverage points, BIRS will save lives and strengthen communities. BIRS is building a community of African professionals passionate for improving access to quality medicine and global health outcomes.