The East African Community (EAC) established the Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain Management (RCE-VIHSCM) in 2015,
hosted at the University of Rwanda (UR) in Kigali, and was launched on 24th March 2016.
The mission of EAC RCE-VIHSCM is to contribute to solving existing performance challenges of the health supply chain management (HSCM) system in the EAC region through the generation of knowledge and its translation into research, policy and practice.
One of the vital parts of health systems is efficient supply chain management for providing
health institutions with essential medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, medical equipment, and
products for family planning. The EAC RCE-VIHSCM also aims to offer an enabling environment to sustain the production and distribution of vaccines and other pharmaceutical products in the EAC region.
Among the RCE’s Strategic Objectives is achieving excellence in research and the
dissemination of knowledge that informs best and evidence-based practices for VIHSCM and supports the implementation of innovation in VIHSCM. Although research-based evidence in the EAC RCE-VIHSCM research priority areas has increased over the past few years in the EAC region, there remains a significant need to create and expand a more robust evidence base. This is essential for guiding policies and best practices to improve the production and distribution of vaccines and other pharmaceutical products.