Theme: Supply Chain
Building Resilience in the Health Supply Chain to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic
Since Zambia recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 case in March 2020, the transport and logistics industry has been under increasing pressure to maintain supply chains of essential goods and medicines across the country. Regional travel restrictions and border testing regimes, introduced to slow the spread of the virus, have disrupted the movement of health commodity cargo, leaving land-locked countries such as Zambia particularly vulnerable to commodity shortages and stock outs. There is growing concern that further disruption to vital supply chains would seriously undermine Zambia’s ability to maintain the distribution of essential medicines across the county whilst in parallel mounting a coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to protect key workers, Transaid in partnership with the Industrial Training Centre (ITC), and supported by the Zambia Ministry of Health and UK industry, developed a communicable diseases training manual with a focus on COVID-19 awareness and preparedness. Transaid then conducted a Training of Trainers (ToT) programmes to equip ITC trainers with the skills required to deliver the COVID-19 training, and between September 2020 and February 2022, ITC trainers delivered the training to professional drivers and warehouse colleagues working in Zambia’s central and regional medical stores.
A total 101 health supply chain colleagues received the training and 120 packages of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were handed out. In addition, 2,158 printed factsheets were distributed and a further ~4,000 professional drivers received digital copies via the WhatsApp messaging platform.
Please click below to download the full technical brief.
Manual: “A Trainer’s Manual for delivering communicable disease awareness and preparedness training, with a focus on COVID-19 for increasing resilience in Zambia’s health supply chains”
Since Zambia recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 case in March 2020, the transport and logistics industry has been under increasing pressure to maintain supply chains of essential goods and medicines across the country. Regional travel restrictions and border testing regimes, introduced to slow the spread of the virus, have disrupted the movement of health commodity cargo, leaving land-locked countries such as Zambia particularly vulnerable to commodity shortages and stock outs. There is growing concern that further disruption to vital supply chains would seriously undermine Zambia’s ability to maintain the distribution of essential medicines across the county whilst in parallel mounting a coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to protect key workers, Transaid in partnership with the Industrial Training Centre (ITC), and supported by UK industry, have developed a communicable diseases training manual with a focus on COVID-19 awareness and preparedness. The training is suitable for colleagues working at all levels of the health supply chain workforce, and includes additional modules aimed at Fork Lift Truck (FLT) operators and Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) drivers.
Click below to download the manual.
Staying Safe in the Workplace – COVID-19 Information for the Health Supply Chain Workforce
Since Zambia recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 case in March 2020, the transport and logistics industry has been under increasing pressure to maintain supply chains of essential goods and medicines across the country. Regional travel restrictions and border testing regimes, introduced to slow the spread of the virus, have disrupted the movement of health commodity cargo, leaving land-locked countries such as Zambia vulnerable to commodity shortages and stock outs. With this in mind, it is vital that action is taken to build resilience in the health supply chain workforce, to ensure that preventative medicines and equipment continue to reach the most vulnerable people, especially at a time when the pandemic threatens to overwhelm an already fragile health system.
In an effort to protect Zambia’s health supply chain from shocks arising from the current COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics, Transaid collaborated with the Industrial Training Centre (ITC) to develop a short training module to inform and sensitise the health supply chain workforce to work-related COVID-19 risks. In addition to this training, an illustrated factsheet featuring training-related memory aides was developed and included as part of a personal protective equipment (PPE) package distributed to the training recipients. The factsheet includes additional cleaning checklists to ensure that the specific needs of professional drivers and forklift truck operators are incorporated.
Click below to view the factsheet.
Protect Yourself Against COVID-19 – Information for Professional Drivers Working in Zambia factsheet
Since Zambia recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 case in March 2020, the transport and logistics industry has been under increasing pressure to maintain supply chains of essential goods and medicines across the country. Some professional drivers continue to endure challenging working conditions and possible increased road safety risks, while increased demand for emergency orders means that protecting keyworkers from exposure to the virus is more important than ever.
In response, Transaid, together with the Industrial Training Centre (ITC) in Zambia have developed a COVID-19 factsheet for professional drivers working in Zambia, which includes information about symptoms and context-related preventative measures, such as regular cab sanitisation, aimed at reducing the risk of exposure and transmission. Road safety advice is also included, with drivers being alerted to potential emerging road safety risks as well as the possible rise in theft from vehicles caught in long tailbacks at border crossings.
Click below to view the factsheet.
GAVI Study – Outsourcing the Distribution Component of Vaccine and Medicine Supply Chains (2016)
Many government supply chains operate with limited transport capacity, which limits their ability to make last mile deliveries, and results in health workers collecting commodities from the next tier in the supply chain. Outsourcing is often used as a means to improve efficiencies, access new capabilities or access additional capacity, which has yielded successful results in some cases. Outsourcing is also an option when financing for an asset is not available which this is becoming an increasingly important issue now as donors are reluctant to pay for warehouses and trucks for Central Medical Stores (CMS).
This report focuses on how to outsource the physical distribution of vaccines and medical products to a private sector Logistics Service Provider (LSP) in sub-Saharan Africa. It analyses existing approaches to outsourcing, the challenges encountered and lessons learned. A number of outsourcing examples have been identified within the focus countries of Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi. These primarily focus on the distribution of ambient medical products, and incorporate many elements of vertical supply chains such as those part of the government operated CMS supply chain. There are just two examples of outsourced vaccine logistics that have been identified, a public private partnership in South Africa, and one in Nigeria.
The framework has been designed specifically to assist government operated CMS vaccine and medical supply chains in outsourcing distribution services. The report uses templates and documents to describe how to manage an outsourcing in a structured manner. It also includes a practical toolkit to assist government operated CMS vaccine and medical supply chains in the outsourcing of distribution services. The Outsourcing Framework begins with a list of considerations for outsourcing and explains the process from creating a project plan and RFP, through contracting to implementation and business as usual.
Please click below to download the full report.
GAVI Study – Outsourcing the Distribution Component of Vaccine and Medicine Supply Chains
Many government supply chains operate with limited transport capacity, which limits their ability to make last mile deliveries, and results in health workers collecting commodities from the next tier in the supply chain. Outsourcing is often used as a means to improve efficiencies, access new capabilities or access additional capacity, which has yielded successful results in some cases. Outsourcing is also an option when financing for an asset is not available which this is becoming an increasingly important issue now as donors are reluctant to pay for warehouses and trucks for Central Medical Stores (CMS).
This report focuses on how to outsource the physical distribution of vaccines and medical products to a private sector Logistics Service Provider (LSP) in sub-Saharan Africa. It analyses existing approaches to outsourcing, the challenges encountered and lessons learned. A number of outsourcing examples have been identified within the focus countries of Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi. These primarily focus on the distribution of ambient medical products, and incorporate many elements of vertical supply chains such as those part of the government operated CMS supply chain. There are just two examples of outsourced vaccine logistics that have been identified, a public private partnership in South Africa, and one in Nigeria.
The framework has been designed specifically to assist government operated CMS vaccine and medical supply chains in outsourcing distribution services. The report uses templates and documents to describe how to manage an outsourcing in a structured manner. It also includes a practical toolkit to assist government operated CMS vaccine and medical supply chains in the outsourcing of distribution services. The Outsourcing Framework begins with a list of considerations for outsourcing and explains the process from creating a project plan and RFP, through contracting to implementation and business as usual.
Please click below to download the full report.