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This article was originally published by Health Policy Watch 

Dairy farmer Tonny Kidega is passionate about his cattle and his country’s health systems – and has been championing the importance of limiting the use of antibiotics to curb the development of drug-resistant “superbugs” and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Based in the Gulu district in northern Uganda, Kidega is a veterinarian and the Managing Director of the Gulu Uganda Country Dairy Limited.

He is also a firm supporter of Uganda’s new national action plan to eliminate the use of unnecessary antibiotics in livestock farming, which is the main driver of drug resistance – which could mean that common antibiotic medicines will no longer work on humans or animals.

“If I am reckless and I do not follow the procedures within my milk production value chain, and it gets antimicrobial residues, AMR will continue in the system,” said Kidega.

As COVID-19 began to spread around the globe in March 2020, drug supplies — ironically — shrank, because of the pandemic’s impact on global supply chains. 

Chinese factories, which produce about 70% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that Indian drug manufacturers use, were shuttered during China’s severe lockdown early last year. Much of the world relies on India’s exports of 26 key generic drugs and drug ingredients, but without raw ingredients, India was forced to restrict its pharmaceutical exports, which account for one fifth (in volume) of the world’s exports of generics. 

Read this story on USAID's Exposure page. 

Tsiraiky Abotono has never taken a vacation. 

Day after day, for 15 years, he has kept watch over his village, Andravindahy, in southwest Madagascar. Abotono, 56, is one of the thousands of community health volunteers who provide basic health care services to the country’s rural areas.

His absence would be missed. To reach a health center, people would have to walk for two hours across cactus fields under a burning sun. 

“It can be a challenge when I’m busy with personal duties and have to leave the village. The population relies on me entirely for health matters,” Abotono says. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact communities worldwide, several vaccines have been authorized for emergency use in various countries, with many more in the final stage of clinical trials. The successful deployment of a COVID-19 vaccine has the potential to eradicate the global coronavirus pandemic, but the task is challenging. COVAX, co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organization (WHO), was established to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country. However, for governments, making decisions on COVID-19 vaccine options and deployment poses complex challenges. Success will depend on how key essential components of the vaccine introduction process are planned, implemented, monitored, and evaluated.