Challenges

An efficient end-to-end supply chain is critical to delivering quality and affordable lifesaving medicines when and where they are needed. Supply chain management encompasses all activities required in acquiring and moving health products from manufacturer to user—from forecasting and procurement to storage and transport— considering the financial and information flows required to move the products through the supply chain.

Reducing inefficiencies across the supply chain increases the quality and timing of service delivery while freeing up much-needed resources. In the CAREC region, such inefficiencies include limited competition in the market, leading to constrained supplies and higher prices. Many of these inefficiencies were amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the long-standing vulnerability of medical supplies into sharp focus.

Additionally, global shortages of medicines and supplies were experienced, and when they were available, the prices were very high, and quality was not always assured.