Management Sciences for Health

08/31/2026

Before conflict restricted access across ’s Amhara Region in 2023, in-person mentoring reached no more than 7% of health facilities in a typical two-week period.

During active conflict, weekly telephone mentoring reached 75% of accessible facilities, at a fraction of the cost.

By phone and SMS, health workers flagged and redistributed medicines at risk of stockout, tracked patients, solved service-delivery challenges, and helped keep essential TB services running.

The lesson extends beyond emergency response. Health systems are more resilient when practical mechanisms for continuity are built in before disruption occurs—not improvised once a crisis begins.

In Amhara, a simple, low-cost approach helped sustain connections between health workers, facilities, and patients when conventional support was no longer possible.

Read the brief: https://msh.org/resources/telephone-mentoring-during-conflict-supporting-tb-program-continuity-in-the-amhara-region-of-ethiopia/

Telephone Mentoring During Conflict: Supporting TB Program Continuity in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia Conflict in Ethiopia’s Amhara region disrupted

08/28/2026

El proyecto Utz' Na'n, liderado por MSH en el Altiplano Occidental de Guatemala, está dedicando todo el mes de agosto a la promoción de la lactancia materna, un componente fundamental para apoyar a madres, niñas y niños durante los primeros 1,000 días, desde el embarazo hasta el segundo cumpleaños de la niña o el niño, una ventana crítica para el crecimiento y el desarrollo. En muchas de las comunidades donde trabaja el proyecto, el acceso a información sobre nutrición y a servicios de salud de calidad es limitado. El apoyo a la lactancia materna llena una brecha real, una que influye en la supervivencia y el desarrollo de los recién nacidos durante sus primeros meses.

Más allá de conmemorar la , el proyecto está prestando atención sostenida a lo que más necesitan las familias de estas comunidades. Las actividades de este mes han incluido una feria de salud en el Distrito de Salud de Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán, en Sololá, con actividades educativas sobre la importancia de la lactancia materna, y una jornada de donación de leche materna en el Distrito de Salud de Olintepeque, en Quetzaltenango, que recolectó 8.5 litros de leche materna, donados directamente al banco de leche del Hospital Regional de Occidente para apoyar a bebés en cuidados intensivos pediátricos.

El proyecto Utz' Na'n continúa trabajando junto con los servicios de salud y socios locales para llevar información útil a las familias y promover una atención materna y neonatal respetuosa y culturalmente apropiada.

Obtenga más información sobre el trabajo de MSH en Guatemala: https://msh.org/countries/guatemala/

Consulta información esencial y recursos adicionales sobre la lactancia materna en la OMS: https://www.paho.org/es/semana-mundial-lactancia-materna

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In 's Western Highlands, the MSH-led Utz' Na'n project is dedicating the entire month of August to breastfeeding promotion — a fundamental component of supporting mothers and children through the first 1,000 days from pregnancy through a child's second birthday, a critical window for growth and development. In many communities where the project works, access to nutrition information and quality health services is limited. Breastfeeding support fills a real gap — one that shapes how newborns survive and develop in their earliest months.

Going beyond marking , the project is bringing sustained attention to what families in these communities need most. Activities this month have included a health fair in the Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán Health District in Sololá, featuring educational activities on the importance of breastfeeding, and a breastmilk donation drive in the Olintepeque Health District in Quetzaltenango that collected 8.5 liters of breastmilk — donated directly to the Western Regional Hospital's milk bank to support babies in pediatric intensive care.

The Utz' Na'n project continues to work alongside health services and local partners to bring useful information to families and promote respectful, culturally appropriate maternal and newborn care.

Learn more about MSH's work in Guatemala: https://msh.org/countries/guatemala/

Additional essential information and resources about breastfeeding are available from the World Health Organization (WHO): https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-breastfeeding-week/2026

Dirección Servicios de Salud Quetzaltenango Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social Observatorio en Salud Sexual y Reproductiva OSAR

08/27/2026

Health systems prove their resilience when conditions change and essential services still reach the people who need them.

Between 2020 and 2025, notified nearly 650,000 TB cases despite COVID-19, conflict, drought, and displacement, surpassing targets by approximately 30%. Without sustained support during those years, an estimated 151,400 of those cases may otherwise have gone undiagnosed.

The lesson is clear: resilience cannot be treated as a contingency plan. It has to be built into the way health programs operate—through strong national leadership, adaptable local systems, and the capacity to keep services moving through disruption.

A new technical brief from the MSH-led, U.S. Government-funded Eliminate TB Project examines how national and local partners adapted TB service delivery through overlapping crises, and what those experiences can teach us about sustaining essential services when health systems are under pressure.

Read the brief: https://msh.org/resources/ethiopias-tb-program-response-to-multiple-shock-conditions-achievements-and-lessons-from-the-eliminate-tb-project/

Ethiopia’s TB Program Response to Multiple Shock Conditions: Achievements and Lessons from the Eliminate TB Project Ethiopia’s TB program has faced

08/26/2026

What does it take to sustain HIV services when a health system is under extraordinary pressure?

At in Rio de Janeiro, 's wartime experience in sustaining HIV services contributed to the global body of evidence on resilient, country-led HIV responses.

Three studies supported by the U.S.-funded SAFEMed Activity, led by MSH, shared how Ukraine has kept HIV prevention, testing, and treatment running through wartime, through stronger forecasting, optimized laboratory networks, and last-mile distribution models that keep medicines moving in crisis conditions.

Resilience is built through systems, partnerships, and investments that keep essential services going when conditions change. Ukraine's experience is practical proof of that.

Read more: https://msh.org/resources/safe-affordable-and-effective-medicines-for-ukrainians-safemed-activity-july-2026-monthly-newsletter-and-success-story/

08/24/2026

TB can go undetected when screening relies on symptoms alone, particularly among people who do not know they are sick.

In , AI-assisted chest X-ray screening is helping the national TB program reach people who might otherwise be missed. Between January 2025 and March 2026, more than 31,000 people across regions supported by the Eliminate TB Project received screening. As a result, 1,660 people with TB were identified and connected to care—including people with no apparent symptoms and others at higher risk, such as people living with HIV, household contacts of people with TB, and people with diabetes.

Drawing on MSH’s decades of experience strengthening TB programs, a new technical brief from the MSH-led, U.S. Government-funded Eliminate TB Project examines how AI-assisted screening can be integrated into national TB services in ways that are practical, scalable, and sustainable within local systems.

Read the brief and explore lessons from Ethiopia’s experience: https://msh.org/resources/ai-powered-chest-x-ray-screening-for-tb-case-finding-field-experience-from-ethiopia/

Ministry of Health,Ethiopia REACH Ethiopia Amhara Health Bureau - አብክመ ጤና ቢሮ

08/19/2026

In Ethiopia's Amhara Region, conflict since 2021 disrupted essential health services, including TB care.

Through the U.S. Government-funded Eliminate TB Activity, MSH worked alongside the Amhara Regional Health Bureau to keep TB services going by strengthening local systems and adapting to the realities on the ground.

This included virtual mentorship for health workers, support to maintain TB commodity supplies, and restoring routine data through DHIS2.

Despite prolonged disruption:

➡️TB case notification remained above 5,000 cases per quarter
➡️Treatment success remained above 95%

Last week, MSH was recognized at the annual Amhara Regional Health Programs Review for its sustained partnership and contribution to strengthening the regional TB program.

When local systems are strengthened, essential health services can continue even in the face of prolonged crisis. Learn more from the Eliminate TB Activity’s technical briefs: https://msh.org/projects/eliminate-tb/

Ministry of Health,Ethiopia

08/18/2026

Even during war, continues to strengthen how essential medicines and health services reach people.

The U.S.-funded SAFEMed Activity, led by Management Sciences for Health (MSH), highlights recent progress, including:

▪️Ukraine’s HIV response at AIDS 2026
▪️The biggest expansion yet of the Affordable Medicines Program
▪️Kyiv’s launch of a new approach to financing high-cost medicines
▪️A new national organization working to improve medicines safety and supply chain transparency

These are practical changes that are strengthening access to medicines today while building a more resilient health system for the future. Read the newsletter and technical brief: https://msh.org/resources/safe-affordable-and-effective-medicines-for-ukrainians-safemed-activity-july-2026-monthly-newsletter-and-success-story/

Rebecca Kohler

08/18/2026

For communities in underserved and hard-to-reach areas across Ethiopia, the last mile has long been the hardest gap to close.

Doing so requires more than delivery infrastructure. It takes deliberate planning, clearly coordinated roles at every level of the health system, and sustained institutional commitment.

The U.S. Government-funded Supply Chain Strengthening (SCS) Activity, implemented by Management Sciences for Health, worked alongside the Ethiopian Pharmaceuticals Supply Service - EPSS to bring together 208 representatives from regional health bureaus, zonal health departments, woreda health offices, and EPSS teams across five regional hubs.

Together, they validated 245 health facilities for expanded last-mile delivery and aligned implementation plans across the health system. As of August 2026, 82 newly enrolled facilities have received their first direct delivery of essential medicines.

Ethiopia’s path toward universal direct delivery coverage by 2030 depends on reaching every health facility—including those that have historically lacked reliable access to medicines. Each new connection helps close the last-mile gap and brings essential health products closer to the people who need them, wherever they live.

Learn more about the SCS Activity: https://msh.org/projects/supply-chain-strengthening-scs-activity/

Ministry of Health,Ethiopia

08/17/2026

PEECH Kaduna State Baseline Findings Dissemination Meeting Highlights Commitment to Strengthening Community Health Workforce

Kaduna State Ministry of Health has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening community-based healthcare delivery through strategic partnerships, following the dissemination of the baseline findings of the Programme for Equitable Expansion of Community-Based Health Workers in Nigeria (PEECH), led by Management Sciences for Health (MSH) Nigeria.

The MSH Nigeria-led PEECH team conducted state-entry engagements with officials of the Kaduna State Ministry of Health and the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board to present the findings of the baseline assessment and discuss opportunities for collaboration.

The delegation led by Dr Victoria Erinle was received on behalf of the Honourable Commissioner of Health, Hajiya Umma K. Ahmed, by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Aishatu Abubakar Sadiq.

In her remarks, Dr. Sadiq warmly welcomed the PEECH team to Kaduna State and reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to working with partners whose interventions contribute to improving the health and wellbeing of the people of Kaduna State.

She commended the PEECH team for its presentation of the baseline findings, particularly the use of a clear and engaging PowerPoint infographic format, describing it as “an international conference-worthy presentation.”

The Permanent Secretary further stressed the importance of ensuring that the PEECH project is properly aligned with existing programmes and development partners, including Pathfinder International, to prevent duplication of efforts, promote coordination and maximise available resources.

The engagement provided an opportunity for the Kaduna State Ministry of Health and PEECH to explore areas of collaboration towards strengthening the community health workforce, improving coordination and enhancing access to quality community-based health services.

The Kaduna State Ministry of Health remains committed to collaborating with development partners and stakeholders whose interventions align with the State’s health priorities and contribute meaningfully to improving health outcomes for women, children, families and communities across Kaduna State.

The Governor of Kaduna State fans Gates Foundation Umma Ahmed Management Sciences for Health International Society of Media in Public Health EngenderHealth

08/17/2026

Five personal stories. Millions of people reached.

Together, Public Health Center of Ukraine (PHC) and the MSH-led Safe, Affordable, and Effective Medicines for Ukrainians (SAFEMed) Activity, funded by the U.S. Government, developed a campaign that brought trusted health information beyond traditional communication channels. Healthcare facilities. Kyiv Metro. Intercity trains.

Places where millions of Ukrainians spend time every day became places where they could also encounter stories about HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C.

Learn more about how communications helped bring public health information closer to people: https://msh.org/story/from-strategy-to-stories-bringing-trusted-health-information-to-millions-of-ukrainians/

Rebecca Kohler | Ministry of Health of Ukraine