Health Experts in EAC decry lack of competency in specialized healthcare supply chain management

RWANDA—Representatives from the Ministry of Health from the six East African Community (EAC) countries, have met in Kigali, Rwanda to discuss how to professionalize their health supply management system.

The workshop, Sensitisation meeting on the professionalisation of health supply chain professionals in the EAC region, was organized by the East African Community Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain Management (EAC RCE–VIHSCM).

EAC RCE–VIHSCM is one of the six EAC Regional Centres of Excellence for Skills and Tertiary Education in Higher Medical and Health Sciences Education, Health Services, and Research. 

EAC RCE-VIHSCM center was established to contribute to the improved health of the people of the East African Community by building supply chain management capacity for EAC personnel.

It will act as a regional focal point for the introduction and dissemination of innovative and proven procedures in health supply chain management.

The workshop was supported by the People that Deliver (PtD), an international leading organization in supply chain management.

The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, Africa Resource Center for Excellence in Supply Chain Management in Nigeria, the USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management project in Rwanda, HELP Logistics, and VillageReach also participated in the meeting.

The participants are also expected to develop country-specific roadmaps that define the steps needed to attain a professionalized supply chain workforce that is skilled and motivated, deployed in the right number, and enjoys conducive working conditions.

Dominique Zwinkels, Executive Manager of PtD said, “All of these countries are here because they see the professionalization of the supply chain workforce and the PtD Professionalisation framework as fundamental to strengthening their health supply chains and improving the availability of health supplies.”

At this event, the guiding document central to the professionalization of the supply chain workforce was PtD’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) professionalization framework, which leads states as they professionalize their workforces. 

The PtD is a coalition of diverse organizations, hosted by the UNICEF Supply Division in Copenhagen, which works together to further the development of a competent, supported, and adequately staffed healthcare supply chain workforce.

PtD is the global leader in human resources for supply chain management and its approach is rooted in the notion that without trained professionals to manage health supply chains health commodities do not reach the patients who need them.

Stephen Karengera, Director of the EAC RCE-VIHSCM, “We’re pleased to bring EAC partner states together to talk about how to professionalize the health supply chain. For the EAC community, investing in this sector is a top priority if we are to reach the SDG targets by 2030 and ultimately, universal health coverage.”

According to Karengera, the meeting is an opportune moment for participants to learn about best practices and the challenges of implementing a professionalization agenda in the health supply chain.

The meeting gives participants the opportunity to learn about best practices and the challenges of implementing a professionalisation agenda in the health supply chain.

The participants began an advocacy exercise that focuses on identifying fit-for-purpose mechanisms to scale up health supply chain professionalisation in the EAC region.

A second meeting will be organized later in the year to enable health supply chain professionals to seek the support of PtD and EAC RCE–VIHSCM as they work towards the development and implementation of the professionalisation roadmap.

Supply Chain Management Issues in Healthcare

The Journal for Global Health notes that the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted flaws in institutions and health systems across many parts of the world. Some of these flaws include structural inequities, donors’ agendas, and market forces.

Moreover, on the African continent, the major limitations are the limited diversification in medical supply chains and the lack of production capability for medical supplies leading to a high reliance on imports for health systems.

Data from the International Trade Centre, Medical Industries in Africa: A Regional Response to Supply Shortages report, extrapolates that from 2015 to 2019, intra-continental trade in Africa was only 2% compared to 47% in the Americas, 61% in Asia, 67% in Europe and 7% in Oceania, which also has a high import dependence.

Additionally, the top five global exporters of medical supplies to Africa are responsible for providing 71% of protective equipment, 66% of disinfectants and products, and 48% of medical consumables imports to the African continent.

The World Bank also infers that SCM in Africa, which involves planning and managing inventory, sourcing, financing, receiving, conducting quality control, warehousing, and distributing medical products to health clinics, pharmacies, and hospitals, has long been neglected.

World Bank recommends addressing the critical challenges confronting Africa’s medicine supply chain as therefore a non-negotiable pathway to achieving better healthcare in Africa towards universal health coverage.

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