Paulo Savaget, a Gates Cambridge Scholar, and his supervisor, Steve Evans, have been awarded $20,000 from the IBM Center for The Business of Government to develop a ‘Playbook’, based on our work in Zambia. This Playbook will outline the process for scale-up in countries beyond Zambia. These IBM awards are for new reports on key public sector challenges, which respond to priorities identified in the IBM Center’s research agenda. These awards are intended to stimulate and accelerate the production of practical research that benefits government leaders and managers.
This is how the award is described on the IBM website:
Catalyzing Access to Medicines by Emulating Value Chains of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods by Steve Evans and Paulo Savaget, University of Cambridge
Governments in developing countries have often struggled to deliver medicines in remote areas of the world. Emulating value chains of fast-moving consumer goods for over-the-counter public health products has improved the uptake of life-saving medicines. This research will combine qualitative and quantitative data from projects pioneered in Zambia and similar projects elsewhere – and supported by governmental/intergovernmental agencies such as DfID(UK), Zambian Ministry of Health, USAID and UNICEF – to identify contextual preconditions and provide a roadmap of how governments can innovate to tackle pressing health challenges. The report will also identify emerging innovations such as blockchain to enhance supply chains and contribute to value chain outcomes, with lessons learned for public health as well as other global supply chains.
We are grateful to Paulo, who spent 4 weeks in Zambia with Simon and Jane Berry in Jun-17, for choosing ColaLife as the subject of his work on ‘Sustainability Hacking’.
Read more about this award on the Gates Cambridge website.