South Africa
April 2016 – present
Background
South Africa is home to 8.3 million people living with HIV, with 5.7 million on daily antiretroviral therapy. The country also faces a rising burden of non-communicable diseases, further straining limited healthcare resources and facilities. Patients often endure long journeys and sacrifice work or school days to obtain these vital medicines. In response, the National Department of Health initiated the Central Chronic Medicines Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) program to improve access to chronic medications through convenient pick-up points, thereby relieving congestion at crowded public health facilities.
To support the National Department of Health, Project Last Mile was invited by USAID and PEPFAR to apply expertise from The Coca-Cola System in differentiated service delivery, geospatial intelligence, and retail outlet creation to expand Dablapmeds, a rebrand of the CCMDD program. Initially, Project Last Mile developed a business plan and roadmap for external pick-up points in 2016, which was scaled nationally in 2017.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Project Last Mile shifted its focus to accelerate pick-up point growth and utilized its consumer marketing skills to launch the Dablapmeds brand. Project Last Mile continues to offer ongoing technical assistance for CCMDD management.
Results:
- 5.3 million patients have registered with the CCMDD program.
- 64% of patients are collecting their medication at external pick-up points.
- There are 2.9 million active patients in the CCMDD program.
- 40% of antiretroviral therapy users now collect their medication through the CCMDD program.
Watch a video about how Dablapmeds is improving access to chronic medications:
This information originally appeared in the 2023 Annual Report.