COHSASA appoints new board member

Dr Nicole Spieker

PharmAccess is a Dutch not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the strengthening of health systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Working with local public and private partners, PharmAccess' mission is to create access to affordable, quality healthcare for low income groups. This is achieved through the introduction of standards, the creation of health insurance systems, the provision of affordable loans to private clinics, medical and administrative capacity building, HIV/AIDS and healthcare workplace programs, and learning and analysis through operational research.

Dr Spieker is also the MD of the SafeCare Initiative, started in 2010 by the PharmAccess (Netherlands), the Joint Commission International (JCI, USA) and COHSASA (South Africa). The SafeCare approach is based on internationally acknowledged (ISQua) quality standards and dissects the improvement process of healthcare providers in surveyable, measurable steps. Currently this programme is operational in four countries in over 1000 facilities with public and private sector partners.

Prior to this, Dr Spieker was Director of clinical support services at the Aga Khan Health Services, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where she was responsible to develop and foster effective collaboration between clinical support departments, medical staff leadership, faculty and other affiliated services to ensure an integrated approach to providing quality services, and fulfilling the hospital's diagnostic, clinical, research and educational goals and objectives. She holds a PhD in Molecular Genetics of the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.