Africa

Files are stored in order, providing for better system management

JICA launched the Asia-Africa Knowledge Co-Creation Program (AAKCP) in 2005 as one initiative promoting South-South Cooperation. AAKCP creates a forum for Asian and African countries to share experience and knowledge and helps African countries to create individual developmental strategies best suited to their needs. AAKCP is considered the core of JICA’s South-South Cooperation initiative and is expected to provide mutual learning opportunities for all African and Asian participants.

African participants meeting with a Sri Lankan counterpart (Sri Lanka)

An AAKCP sub-program, focusing on “Total Quality Management (TQM) for better hospital services” was launched in 2007 to respond to the challenges faced by the African region, including the chronic shortage of financial, logistic and human resources, TQM is a management tool for improving total performance and quality which was first introduced in Japanese industry. Currently, a total of 15 African countries—Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda—participate in this program. Sri Lanka, which had successfully incorporated TQM into its hospital management systems, also participates in this vital component of the AAKCP.

This sub-program introduces Sri Lankan and Japanese experience in hospital management which have promoted 5S (sort, set, shine, standardize and sustain)- KAIZEN (Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI))-TQM process for better hospital management systems. This is especially critical in the resource-scarce hospital environments that are typical of many African countries. The African nations participating in the sub-program-which consists of a series of seminars and implementation of pilot project - are expected to improve work environments and the quality of health services by implementing the model supported by 5S-KAIZEN-TQM.

Using recycled materials, medical commodities are in stock (Eritrea)

Already, some African countries, such as Tanzania, have greatly appreciated the effectiveness and efficient aspects of this sub-program. As a result the Tanzanian government has scaled up the 5S-KAIZEN-TQM initiative nationwide. The AAKCP hospital management program will directly and indirectly contribute toward developing and maintaining health-related human resources, as well as strengthening healthcare systems throughout Africa.