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CFW Alliance with MSH
Cry for the World Foundation Enters Alliance with Management Sciences for Health
MINNEAPOLIS-BASED FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES MAJOR EXPANSION OF MEDICAL NETWORK TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL MEDICINES TO 3 MILLION KENYANS PER YEAR
Minneapolis, Minn. --- Cry For the World Foundation (CFW) has entered into an alliance with Boston-based Management Sciences for Health (MSH) to launch a major expansion of a program that provides essential medicines to children and their families in Kenya. CFW’s current network of 25 distribution outlets, serving approximately 10,000 people per month in the East African nation, will be expanded to 200 outlets with the goal of serving 3 million people per year by 2005. CFW combines well-established mirco-enterprise and franchise business models to enable health workers to own and operate their own businesses supplying medicine and medical services to poor communities in Kenya. The new outlets will offer an expanded selection of drugs and medical services.
"More than 25,000 children die every day in the developing world because they don’t have medicine that costs less than a cup of coffee. They die from market failure. Working with MSH, we are developing and implementing a market-based, retail franchise distribution solution for the communities where these children live," said Scott Hillstrom, a Minneapolis lawyer who is founder and President of CFW. "Our alliance with MSH is a major step forward that makes it possible for us to do a much bigger and better job," he said.
CFW's franchised network of pharmaceutical outlets, CFWshops™, is comprised of shops owned and operated by franchisees using the CFWshops™ franchise operating system. The system is designed to ensure proper handling and use of essential medicines and provides franchisees with financing plus extensive clinical and management support.
Through its Strategies for Enhancing Access to Medicines (SEAM) Program, headed by Dr. Denis Broun and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, MSH will provide crucial technical support for the expansion of the CFWshops™ network. The CFWshops™ project "has the full support of the Government of Kenya, and provides a good example of how a public-private partnership can work effectively in pharmaceutical distribution," according to an MSH press release.
In support of the MSH/CFW alliance, Dr. Broun will join the CFW board of directors. "Having held senior posts at the World Bank, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and MSH, Dr. Broun brings to CFW a rare depth of leadership and vision for which we are very grateful. Working with Dr. Broun and his colleagues at MSH, CFW will not only scale up the present network but will also improve its franchise operating system and franchisee support services," said Hillstrom. "CFW’s ultimate goal is to make the system freely available to organizations around the world to enable them to develop similar systems of their own."
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About Cry For the World Foundation
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Cry for the World Foundation (CFW) is dedicated to increasing supplies of essential drugs to children and their families in the developing world. Founded in 1997, CFW operates a network of CFWshops™ combining established micro-enterprise and franchise business methods enabling health workers to own and operate their own drug shops. The business model assures a reliable supply of high quality, affordable generic drugs targeting the infectious diseases responsible for 70-90% of illness and death in the communities they serve. CFW’s ultimate mission is to promote the use of the model by organizations around the world. Visit www.cryfoundation.org
About Dr. Denis Broun
Dr. Denis Broun is a medical doctor specialized in tropical diseases and epidemiology. He is also a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Sciences. After several years working as a health economist in various countries in Africa and Asia, Dr. Broun joined the World Bank in 1991 and was in charge of the pharmaceuticals and vaccines sector as a Senior Health Specialist coordinating the Bank’s work in the essential drugs area. In 1996, he was appointed Chief of the Health Section of UNICEF (New York) and then joined the World Health Organization in 1998, first as a deputy director for the Control of Tropical Diseases, then as Director or Resource Mobilization. In 2000, Dr. Broun joined Management Sciences for Health, and has been responsible of their European Office since that date.
About Management Sciences for Health
Management Sciences for Health is a private, non-profit organization that works collaboratively with health care policy makers, managers, providers, and clients to help close the gap between what is known and what is done to solve basic health problems. MSH seeks to increase the effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and sustainability of health and family planning services by improving their management, promoting access to these services, and influencing public policy. MSH has 30 years of experience providing training and technical assistance in drug management and other health areas in over 100 countries. Its skilled personnel, innovative methodologies, and comprehensive textbooks, training materials, and software help promote effective drug and health management in developing countries. For more information, visit www.msh.org.
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