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In this issue:
→Professionalizing the supply chain workforce in Sudan
→Welcome to PtD's new Board members
→Strengthening pharmacy support workforce in Malawi
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→Building next generation immunization supply chains
→JSI's Supply Chain Managers Handbook
→PSA's competency assessment tool
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Professionalizing the supply chain workforce in Sudan
As the national center for procurement, storage and distribution of medical supplies in Sudan, the mandate of the National Medical Supplies Fund (NMSF) is to ensure that essential medicines and medical supplies of proven safety, efficacy and quality are available to the Sudanese population at reasonable prices. Located in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, NMSF’s offices also house a warehouse providing storage for a range of medical supplies including medicines, vaccines and other biologicals, medical consumables and a variety of medical equipment.
NMSF is an active board member organization of the People that Deliver (PtD) Initiative and was the recipient of PtD’s new country partnership program in 2016. Under this program, NMSF and PtD collaborated to develop a comprehensive strategy for the development and retention of NMSF’s workforce. Based on PtD’s Four-Stepped Approach to HR capacity development in health supply chain systems, the PtD-NMSF strategy includes a five year costed training plan based on a comprehensive training needs assessment, improved on-boarding of new staff by way of a mentoring and coaching program, and linked training interventions to individual job descriptions and performance. The training strategy will support NMSF’s newly built Abdulhameed Ibrahim Training Center, while encouraging the professionalization of the supply chain workforce in Sudan.
Opening of the Abdulhameed Ibrahim Training Center
Situated NMSF’s headquarters in Sudan, the recently opened state-of-the-art training center features facilities for formal training, group work and self-study, a conference hall with seating for 265, a health coordination meeting hall, four training rooms, a computer lab, video conferencing facilities, an electronic library with access to journals, as well as a physical library and study space.
The president of Sudan honored the inauguration of the opening of the center by awarding NMSF’s Director General with the Achievement Star and the Medal of Achievement to all NMSF’s staff.
NMSF believes that continuous professional development is key in securing high quality, efficient and safe medical supplies. The Abdulhameed Ibrahim Training Center will support human resources development and capacity building of the supply chain community in Sudan, as well as other countries in the region, making it a unique facility in Africa.
For further information about NMSF, please visit: www.nmsf.gov.sd/ or email: [email protected]
Pictured above: PtD Executive Manager, Dominique Zwinkels, NMSF Director General Gamal Khalafalla Mohamed Ali, consultants Jean Blackstock and Bastiaan Remmelzwaal, and NMSF staff in Khartoum
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Welcome to PtD's four new Board members
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PtD would like to warmly welcome all four new Board member organizations who were voted in at a recent PtD Board meeting. We look forward to working with each of them during their two-year mandate. The next Board meeting will take place on June 6th in Copenhagen, prior to the start of the Health and Humanitarian Logistics Conference.
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Created in 2007, AsLoB is the Beninese logisticians’ professional association. AsLoB is actively involved in the field of health; it has a portfolio of projects focused on the improvement of supply chains, professionalization of health logistics function, and the setting up of a professional associations’ network.
To achieve its objectives, AsLoB cooperates with the ‘’Agence de Medécine Préventive’’ (AMP) for professionalization of health logistics in Benin, the Private Health Sector Platform (PSSP), and the National School of Applied Economy and Management (ENEAM). At an international level, AsLoB shares the visions of PtD and IAPHL, working together to strengthen supply chains. AsLoB hopes to become a pan-African logistics research center by 2020. Visit AsLoB's website for further information.
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Empower School of Health is a global health academic, research and consulting institute, which focuses on empowering individuals and communities. The school offers services in learning and development for building human resource capacity and health system resilience for improving performance.
Empower has worked across 40 countries to strengthen institutional capacity of global health programs, support procurement and supply management, strengthen regulatory and quality assurance programs, support project management, build health intelligence systems and catalyze south-south technology transfer. Visit Empower's website for further information.
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Transaid works to transform lives through safe, available, and sustainable transport. Founded by Save the Children, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), and its Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, Transaid shares 25 years’ worth of expertise in 23 countries with partners and governments – empowering people to build the skills they need to transform their own lives.
Specific focus areas include emergency transport, transport management, road safety and driver training, essential medicine logistics and health worker mobility. Transaid works with and strengthens local partners be they NGOs, government agencies or private sector organisations. Visit Transaid's website for further information.
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As an influential professional body, CIPS helps all kinds of organizations achieve all-round excellence in procurement and supply management. We do this by offering a range of products and services to equip you with the knowledge, training, and practical skills you need to derive maximum benefit from your procurement practices.
CIPS is the largest institute representing the Procurement and Supply profession and has a community of more than 120,000 across 200 countries.
Visit CIPS'
website for further information.
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Strengthening pharmacy support workforce in Malawi
By Swetha Srinath
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Malawi, much like other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, grapples with an acute shortage of health workers. To put the shortage in context - Malawi has less than 300 pharmacy personnel to serve a population of over 13 million people. This shortage is exacerbated by the inequitable distribution of pharmacy personnel across sectors (public and private) and across geography (rural and urban). The brunt of the shortage is borne in rural health facilities, where clinical staff have to take on pharmaceutical management tasks they are ill-equipped to perform, which reduces the time dedicated to clinical duties. If left unaddressed, the shortage of pharmacy personnel puts a strain on overburdened clinical staff and hinders patient access to health commodities and quality pharmaceutical care.
The Malawi Ministry of Health, with technical assistance from VillageReach, has been making strides to close the critical gaps in Malawi’s pharmacy workforce by revitalizing and enhancing a two-year, certificate-level “Pharmacy Assistant Training Program”. Through the program, approximately 150 pharmacy support workers have been trained at the Malawi College of Health Sciences and deployed to rural health centers and over 100 additional students are undergoing training now. Through a strong focus on practical training and rural service, students are equipped with the skills required to effectively manage supply of health commodities and to provide pharmaceutical care to patients at the last mile. Additionally, the program has also spurred the creation of the “Pharmacy Assistant Mentorship Program”, through which pharmacy assistants (PAs) provide training and mentorship to other health workers who currently perform pharmaceutical duties in the absence of pharmacy personnel.
The program has demonstrated that pharmacy assistants are a critical cadre with the potential for making significant improvements in health system performance.
1. Pharmacy assistants improve clinical workflow and quality of care received by patients
M&E data from the Pharmacy Assistant Program shows that having pharmacy assistants in health centers relieved clinical staff of logistics duties. With the help of pharmacy assistants, clinical staff were able to reduce the time clinicians spend on logistics tasks by 80%. Pharmacy assistants were also found to improve dispensing practices and quality of information provided to patients. This was demonstrated by the 25% improvement in pharmaceutical practice scores. Pharmacy assistants have allowed clinical staff to see more patients, spend more time on clinical examinations and have improved the quality of care provided to patients.
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2.
Pharmacy assistants can improve health commodity availability and reduce wastage
Pharmacy assistants improve storeroom management (e.g. employing the “First to Expire, First Out” principle in medicine organization), evidenced by the 14 percentage point increase in score for adherence to good storeroom practices. Pharmacy assistants were also found to improve management of inventory data and reporting rates. In the long run, these improvements have the potential to better inform quantification and procurements, and can reduce costly wastage associated with irrational and ineffective procurement of health commodities.
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Pharmacy Assistant Training Program can be used to supplement training capacity
The “Pharmacy Assistant Mentorship Program”, an extension of the Pharmacy Assistant Training Program provides a platform for trained pharmacy assistants to use their knowledge and skills to empower health workers in other health facilities who are tasked with pharmaceutical and supply chain management duties. Given the country’s limited training institution capacity, it will take a number of years to achieve the goal of having a trained pharmacy assistant in all 650 health facilities in Malawi. Though it is in the nascent stages of implementation, the mentorship program aims to strengthen medicines management in facilities that have not yet received a pharmacy assistant.
Interventions such as the Pharmacy Assistant Training Program have the ability to mitigate the pharmacy workforce shortage and better address the pharmaceutical needs of patients. VillageReach’s experience in Malawi highlights the magnitude of the problem and reinforces the need to increase investments into strengthening this workforce. Increased investment into strengthening the pharmacy workforce will help Malawi achieve its broader public health goal of promoting equitable access to health commodities and pharmaceutical care.
Pictured above: A pharmacy assistant student checking inventory and filling stock card
©VillageReach
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Vaccine: Building next generation immunization supply chains
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The latest edition of Vaccine includes two articles focusing on human resource strengthening within supply chains:
Who is preparing the next generation of immunization supply chain professionals?
Andrew N. Brown, Wendy Prosser, Dominique Zwinkels
With the introduction of new vaccines and the availability of new technologies to improve efficiencies, there is a critical need for more supply chain professionals equipped with the appropriate technical and leadership competencies to run immunization supply chains. In order to lever change, we need to ensure that supply chain professionals with the right competencies are placed at the right level within national health supply chain systems. This leads us to the question, ‘who is preparing the next generation of immunization supply chain professionals?
This commentary presents a number of current projects and initiatives seeking to develop the next generation of health supply chain professionals. Read the full article here
The People Factor: An Analysis of the human resources landscape for immunization supply chain management
Musonda Kasonde, Pamela Steele
Every immunization supply chain needs an effective leader as well as an adequate number of skilled, accountable, motivated and empowered personnel who are fully equipped to overcome international supply chain challenges.
This landscape analysis was preceded by an HR Evidence Review (March 2014) which served to inform global partner strategies and country activities, as well as highlight where most support is required. The study also aimed to define the status quo in order to create a baseline against which to measure the impact of interventions related to HR going forward. Read the full article here
For the full edition of the journal please follow: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0264410X/35/17
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JSI’s Supply Chain Manager’s Handbook
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The newly launched JSI
Supply Chain Manager’s Handbook is the perfect starting point for anyone interested in learning about and understanding the key principles and concepts of supply chain management for health commodities.
Based on more than 30 years of experience improving public health supply chains in more than 60 countries, the handbook will help those responsible for improving, revising, designing and operating all or part of a supply chain.
A dedicated
Organizational Capacity and Workforce chapter outlines various strategies to effectively build the capacity of the supply chain workforce. Supply chain managers are also guided on identifying staff and competency requirements, recruiting the right people for the right job, supporting workers on the job, leading the supply chain and monitoring workforce performance.
The handbook encourages managers to seek membership in organizations such as
P
eople that Deliver in order to benefit from networking and professional development opportunities to professionalize the position of the supply chain manager.
Download the full handbook
here.
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John Snow, Inc. 2017. The Supply Chain Manager’s Handbook, A Practical Guide to the Management of Health Commodities. Arlington, Va.: John Snow, Inc.
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PSA's competency assessment tool
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The latest edition of PSA’s Health & Humanitarian - The Supply Chain Review is now online with a spotlight on their recently launched competency assessment for health supply chain managers and leaders.
The online competency assessment tool measures technical, management and leadership competencies covering six key areas of health supply chain work as set out in the People that Deliver (PtD) Health Supply Chain Competency Framework for Managers and Leaders.
For more information regarding the assessment, please visit: https://www.skillsprofile.pamsteele.co.uk/
Access the Health & Humanitarian magazine here.
Health & Humanitarian - the Supply Chain Review Issue 3 published by Pamela Steele Associates, Oxford UK
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