Reducing child deaths
from pneumonia in Ethiopia

Pneumonia is the leading infectious killer of children under 5, globally. In Ethiopia, the burden of disease is especially high, even though an effective treatment exists (amoxicillin dispersible tablets (amox DT)).   

In 2015, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, R4D began working with the government of Ethiopia to address an urgent challenge — an impending funding cliff for amox DT as previous donors significantly reduced or closed out their programs.   

R4D supported the government to mobilize catalytic funding from a new donor to ensure uninterrupted supply to public health facilities, and then worked quickly to understand the root causes of the situation. Then, R4D collaborated with government partners to co-create market shaping solutions and support efforts to holistically strengthen capacities throughout the entire system — including improving methodologies to more accurately predict demand for the drug, strengthening government procurement capacities, updating treatment guidelines, mobilizing domestic funding, working with manufacturers to increase supply security and more.

Results

As a result, there are now more health centers (up from 56% in 2015 to 93% in 2019) and more health posts (up from 57% to 86%) with amox DT available to patients throughout Ethiopia. This means a mother is more likely able to access the treatment at the exact moment her child needs it. Beyond helping to transform access to this lifesaving medicine, R4D is also supporting the government of Ethiopia in establishing a new unit within the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Agency (EPSA), which will strengthen EPSA’s capacity to ensure consistent access not only for amox DT, but for a variety of critical health and nutrition products.

Banner photo © World Bank