Efforts to strengthen access to medicines and vaccines in East Africa are driving a renewed push to professionalise the health supply chain workforce within the EAC region.

From May 4–6, 2026, delegates from EAC Partner States, technical experts, and development partners convened in Kigali to review the draft Regional Health Supply Chain Management (HSCM) Professionalisation Strategy aimed at transforming supply chain management into a recognised and standardised profession in the region.

During the three-day technical meeting organised by the EAC Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain Management and the EAC Secretariat, participants worked to shape the regional framework.

In his remarks, Mr. Edward Sebina, Commissioner of Social Affairs at Uganda’s Ministry of EAC Affairs and Chair of the meeting, commended the EAC RCE-VIHSCM and Secretariat for coordinating the process. He also recognized the efforts of Regional Professionalisation Taskforce and delegates for their progress in finalizing the strategy.

“This meeting is a critical to ensuring our health supply chain workforce is resilient. I encourage all participants to provide the technical inputs needed to make the strategy strong and ready for adoption,” he said.

The workshop builds on earlier engagements, including the first professionalisation meeting held in June 2023, which raised awareness and laid the groundwork for a regional framework that defines standards, curricula, and legal recognition of supply chain cadres as part of national human resource structures.

Once adopted, the strategy is expected to mark a turning point that will elevate health supply chain management as a profession and strengthen equitable access to medicines and vaccines.

📌 Did You Know?
• Up to 40% of health system costs are tied to supply chain operations.
• A professionalised workforce reduces stockouts of essential medicines and improves accountability.
• The EAC’s initiative is among the first regional efforts in Africa to formally institutionalize supply chain management as a profession.