the PEP kits procurement project Phase II

Sexual and gender-based violence, or SGBV, remains a significant problem in the DRC. The 2013 DRC Demographic and Health Survey found that more than 57 percent of women in DRC experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives. Post-exposure prophylaxis kits, or PEP kits for short, reduce a survivor’s risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Access to this critical intervention is uneven and challenging. According to DHIS2 data collected in the first quarter of 2017 to 2018, nearly 25 percent of health facilities in DRC failed to provide PEP kits to SGBV survivors, even when eligible cases presented for services. Baseline data collected by IMA in September 2018 for its previous OFDA-funded PEP Kit Procurement project showed that access to PEP kits remains quite low, particularly in areas affected by armed conflict. Unfortunately, these are also the areas that need PEP kits the most.

There are many variables that affect the availability of PEP kits. SGBV reporting, including PEP kit stock out data, remains low, with less than 50 percent of reports filled to completion. This is well below the national minimum standards of 80 percent. In addition, most health facilities receive different PEP kit components separately and assembly is never completed, which makes tracking stockouts difficult. During the first PEP Kit Procurement Project IMA identified the absence of health care providers trained in SGBV survivor care in several facilities, likely contributing to limited access to PEP kits.

Project Goal

To address these issues, the project will employ a multipronged PEP kit supply and distribution strategy, which will increase access, reduce stock-out, reduce cost per kit through a cost-effective local kitting solution, and reduce PEP kit waste through training of health care providers coupled with a robust tracking and monitoring system. Specifically, the approach will include bulk drug procurement, in-country kitting, quantification, warehousing and distribution, training of health care providers, and PEP kit monitoring and tracking. Through this holistic approach to PEP kit supply, the intervention will effectively address the PEP kit supply in DRC by allowing internal redistribution of PEP kits, which will, in turn, reduce stock out and massive losses due to under consumption in areas where early treatment remains very low.