“Thérèse NIATI UMBA is an independent woman who is rigorous in her work. After graduating in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Lubumbashi in DRC, she worked as a Supply Chain Manager for 8 years. Her responsibilities included management of health programs including reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and others. In addition, she supported the health system for overall improvement of the health of people.

She is currently working as a pharmacist in a Rural Health Zone of DRC. She is responsible for the distribution of health supplies to ensure the availability of medicines in different establishments of the health zone. She has a sound knowledge of drug supply chain management.

According to her, the country faces a number of challenges in the implementation and management of efficient supply chains. Roads in the country are generally in poor condition, and villages can only be reached either on foot or by dugout canoe. Political instability, poor communication, underdeveloped electricity and inadequate human resources are some of the bottlenecks that needs to be addressed to ensure that sufficient medical supplies are available in good quality, quantity and timely manner.

When asked to change one thing in her workplace, she said, “I would start by analyzing and rectifying the incoherent system of logistics management information that is the root cause of poor medicine management here.”

She expressed her gratitude towards the Hive platform for supporting her profession as a practicing pharmacist in the drug supply chain, through the exchange of knowledge with pharmacists from various countries, and for encouraging her to improve the management of pharmaceutical system in her country.