A call to action: securing an uninterrupted supply of Africa’s medical products and technologies post COVID-19

Ejekam, Chioma Stella; Emeje, Martins; Lukulay, Patrick; Uche, Chukwudi R.; Odibeli, Ofure; Sanusi, Olutoun; Anyakora, Chimezie

doi:10.1057/s41271-023-00405-w

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 15 publications

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“…This paper is a scoping review of existing literature to collate evidence on the performance of TB supply chains in the WHO African region. The WHO African region was chosen because it bears the second largest burden of TB in the world [9], yet in general its supply chains are considered to be structurally weaker relative to other regions [10]. We followed the scoping review approach developed by Arksey and O'Malley (2005)] [11] because we aimed to summarize and disseminate research findings in relation the performance of TB supply chains in the WHO African region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tuberculosis commodities supply chain performance in the WHO African region: A scoping review

Mhazo,

Miyango,

Palani

et al. 2024

PLOS Glob Public Health

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Procurement and supply chain management [PSM] systems remain a critical pillar for the implementation of Directly Observed Therapy [DOTS] for tuberculosis [TB] and achievement of disease related aspirations such as ‘ending TB by 2030’. We conducted a scoping review of literature using the Arksey and O’Malley [2005] framework to summarize and disseminate the results of available evidence in relation to TB commodities supply chain performance in the WHO African Region. We searched three electronic databases complemented by google search using relevant terms and identified 1,586 sources. Twenty-five studies published between 2009 and 2023 met the eligibility criteria, inclusive of 21 peer reviewed publications and four reports. The strengths we found included the existence of pooled procurement mechanisms [PPM], availability of funding through external sources, existence of logistics management information systems [LMIS] and integration of PSM systems into primary health care. The main challenge was frequent stock outs which mainly affected medicines for treating TB in children and those for preventing TB. Stock outs were found to follow a poverty gradient and pervasively inequitable since they disproportionately affected structurally disadvantaged populations and communities. Countries that rely on domestic mechanisms for procurement tend to be more vulnerable to stock outs due to inadequate and unpredictable financing, delayed disbursements of funds, longer procurement lead times and poor supplier management. We concluded that stock outs remain one of the foremost challenges to ending TB by 2030. We recommend leveraging existing performance-enhancing platforms such as PPMs, including utilization of such mechanisms by countries that utilize domestic resources to procure commodities. We recommend the design of people centric supply chains that are sensitive to the differentiated needs of the population to ensure that composite improvements in PSM performance do not mask underlying disparities. Context-relevant research is needed to inform future strategies for improving PSM performance.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tuberculosis commodities supply chain performance in the WHO African region: A scoping review

Mhazo,

Miyango,

Palani

et al. 2024

PLOS Glob Public Health

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Towards continuous flow manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients in Africa: a perspective

Nqeketo,

Sagandira

2024

React. Chem. Eng.

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Health Planning in Times of COVID-19 in Burkina Faso: The Role of Its National Strategic Pandemic Management Committee

Druetz,

Bicaba,

Zainabou

et al. 2024

Community Health Equity Research & Policy

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Context Presenting the COVID-19 crisis as a pandemic misleadingly implies a certain homogeneity between the regions of the Globe in terms of their burden and reactions. However, from the outset of the crisis, countries presented different epidemiological realities and sometimes adopted divergent, even opposing measures. Curiously, the heterogeneity of responses persisted as scientific evidence accumulated about COVID-19 and the strategies for dealing with it. Case study This commentary aims to recount the specific experience of Burkina Faso, and how it reoriented its initial biomedical response into a multisectoral strategy. Burkina Faso set up a committee specifically to examine the effects not only of the pandemic, but also of the control measures. This committee was mandated to decompartmentalize the lens through which the COVID-19 was dealt with. It entered into dialogue with a level of stakeholders often overlooked during national health crisis: communities. As a member of this “National Committee for Crisis Management of the Pandemic”, one of the co-authors contributed to its orientations and has witnessed first-hand some of the challenges it faced. Recommendations This experience suggests that the project of extricating the field of public health from medicine is advancing in Burkina Faso. In order to manage future crises more effectively and across different sectors, there is an urgent need to establish state structures and to strengthen public health systems. States need coordination units that have the legitimacy, authority and resources required to mobilize a variety of actors at the community, national and international levels.

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A call to action: securing an uninterrupted supply of Africa’s medical products and technologies post COVID-19

Cited by 4 publications

References 15 publications

Tuberculosis commodities supply chain performance in the WHO African region: A scoping review

Tuberculosis commodities supply chain performance in the WHO African region: A scoping review

Towards continuous flow manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients in Africa: a perspective

Health Planning in Times of COVID-19 in Burkina Faso: The Role of Its National Strategic Pandemic Management Committee

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