The impact of scheduling ketamine as an internationally controlled substance on anaesthesia care in Sub-Saharan Africa: a case study and key informant interviews.

Background: Access to anaesthesia and surgical care is a major problem for people living in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this region, ketamine is critical for the provision of anaesthesia care. However, efforts to control ketamine internationally as a controlled substance may significantly impact its accessibility.

Availability and stock-outs of paediatric antiretroviral treatment formulations at health facilities in Kenya and Uganda.

Introduction: The large number of deaths among children with HIV is driven by poor antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage among this cohort. The aim of the study was to assess the availability and stock-outs of paediatric and adult ART formulations in Kenya and Uganda across various regions and types of health facilities.

Methods: A survey on availability and stock-outs of paediatric ART at health facilities was adapted from the standardized Health Action International-WHO Medicine Availability Monitoring Tool.

Antivenom for sale? Availability and affordability of snakebite medicines across public and private health facilities in Rwanda.

Antivenom is considered the safest and most effective treatment against snake envenomation (SBE); however, global shortages mean that many low-income countries struggle to meet demand. In Rwanda, chronic shortages of essential medicines are an important barrier to robust healthcare delivery and discourage snakebite victims from seeking hospital care. The aim of this retrospective, cross-sectional study was to evaluate the availability and affordability of commodities to treat SBE at hospitals and health centers.

Barriers to accessing internationally controlled essential medicines in sub-saharan Africa: A scoping review.

Background: Access to internationally controlled essential medicines (ICEMs), medicines that are listed on both the World Health Organization's Essential Medicines List and one of three international drug control conventions, remains problematic in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Previous reviews have focused only on specific ICEMs or ICEM-related healthcare fields, but none have focused on all ICEMs as a distinct class. This scoping review therefore aims to identify the barriers to accessing ICEMs across all relevant healthcare fields in SSA.