Firsthand Look at Supply & Logistics Management in Dakar
By Dawn Seymour, Senior Technical Advisor, BID Initiative
Jun 16, 2015
Posted in BID Learning Network (BLN), People
In 2007, PATH and the World Health Organization (WHO) began a collaborative effort to prioritize supply chain efforts through Project Optimize. Between 2009 and 2012, the Ministry of Health in Senegal engaged Optimize as a way address issues in the supply chain in more innovative ways. During the 2015 BLN Design Collaborative meeting in Dakar, Senegal, participants had the opportunity to explore and learn about the technologies implemented.
Photo: PATH/Dawn Seymour. Bestinos Chinodya from Zimbabwe views the dosage of vaccinations.
Amy Lo Ndiaye from the National Procurement Pharmacy walked participants through the LMIS process from the national level to the facility level starting with tours of the facilities where commodities, more specifically immunizations, are stored in cold rooms at the appropriate temperatures to ensure the immunizations’ integrity is maintained for use.
Photo: PATH/Dawn Seymour. Pharmacie Régionale Mobile (PRA mobile), a mobile pharmacy at the regional level in Dakar, Senegal.
In a country where 56.6% of the total 13.5 million population reside in rural areas [1], Senegal implemented a moving regional supply pharmacy (PRA Mobile) as a way to transfer commodities from the national level to regional level. PRA Mobile allows staff in the health system to engage the LMIS by transferring commodities to the appropriate regional stores at the right time while also maintaining the integrity of the commodities inside the PRA Mobile.
Photo: PATH/Dawn Seymour. Arktek.
Participants asked many questions including: What about immunizations in the most remote areas? How do you prevent wastage?
To answer these questions from participants, Abdoulaye Gueye, from the PATH Senegal team, brought in a new innovation that Senegal began using in several facilities starting in December 2014. This technology, called Arktek, a passive vaccine storage device that keeps vaccines at the appropriate temperature for use up to 30 days without any power (electricity, solar, etc). Participants from several countries requested more information about the device as a way to research and potentially integrate the device into their LMIS.
See more photos from the field visits and BLN Design Collaborative meeting on our website or Facebook page.
[1] CIA World Fact Book website
For those in the Seattle area, the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) – just up the street from PATH HQ – has an Arktek on display as part of a current exhibit in the Bezos Center for Innovation.
At MOHAI (and in the link here) you can see what the Arktek looks like from the inside:
http://www.intellectualventureslab.com/invent/making-the-pvsd-cutaway