Each year, on World Malaria Day we evaluate how new developments in the market can help supply chain stakeholders
improve the outcomes of malaria programs in low-and middle income countries.
This year, we look at the impact of supply chains on malaria programs through the
lens of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We know that the already fragile humanitarian- and public health supply chains will come under
increased pressure owing to the global measures that have been implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19. Even with risk mitigation measures in place, supply chain stakeholders in the public sector will have to dramatically improve
coordination to ensure access to malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment services is not compromised by the efforts to limit the spread of the new disease.
For humanitarian- and public health supply chains
improved coordination means:
- increased engagement among stakeholders,
- expanding supply sources through prequalification,
- creative problem solving,
- leveraging alternative modes of transport, and
- sharing more resources and assets.
Through efforts to better coordinate, organizations have the opportunity to showcase their expertise in supply chain- and risk management, by proactively advising clients such as principal recipients, and government procurement units, on how to best adjust their forecasting, procurement, warehousing, and logistics activities to
minimize stockouts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From a supply chain, and procurement perspective, there are several key activities (downstream and upstream) that are typically implemented as a standard practice to prevent stockouts, but one such activity that stood out to us - in the face of COVID-19 - is
supplier diversification.
