by Beth Balderston, PATH and Heidi Lasher, consultant To accompany the article “Traveling exhibit highlights supply system innovations” in the May 2013 Op.ti.mize newsletter, project Optimize has published a photo set on Flickr of its traveling exhibit at the TechNet Consultation in Dakar, Sene...

by Bjorn Melgaard, Judy Roberts, Prashant Yadav, Anup Akkihal, Robert Steinglass, and Gisele Corrêa Miranda, Optimize Project Advisory Group members Following the 2013 TechNet Consultation in Dakar, Senegal, members of the Optimize Project Advisory Group (PAG) met for the last time to discuss pro...

With the launch of a new Decade of Vaccines (DoV) as outlined in the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2012, the world will be embarking on ambitious strategies to introduce the next generation of new vaccines and raise vaccination coverage to desired levels,...

In 2009, key staff at Tanzania’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) and Medical Stores Department (MSD) declared the council health management team (CHMT) of the Iramba district to be one of the poorest performing teams in the country in the stock management of medicines and supplies. Tod...

Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and partners have worked hard to combat maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) illnesses, but the burden of these conditions in Nigeria remains high. Last summer, as part of several strategic interventions to increase MNCH services for the most vulne...

The USAID | DELIVER PROJECT has published three new documents that can help health supply chain programme managers understand and track key performance indicators for the procurement process.The Procurement Performance Indicators Guide—Using Procurement Performance Indicators to Strengthen the Procu...

Health supply chains in developing nations may benefit from new models of performance improvement that link rewards with results. By looking at examples of performance-based financing (PBF) in the commercial sector, the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT has outlined four of the essential components for creati...

Four new technical briefs from the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT offer guidance on important ways to strengthen malaria supply chains in developing countries. From techniques for stakeholder collaboration to identifying potential causes of commodity leakage, these publications address critical aspects of ...

Dear colleagues, With the GAVI Partners' Forum and Africa Regional Conference on Immunization taking place in Dar Es Salaam in the coming two weeks, and with the recent endorsement of the Global Vaccine Action Plan, immunization is receiving a great deal of attention. Over the past three years, t...

An interview with Lisa Ganley-Leal and Pauline Mwinzi, Epsilon Therapeutics Earlier this year, Lisa Ganley-Leal and Pauline Mwinzi were awarded $100,000 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through its Grand Challenges Explorations initiative. They hope to demonstrate that selling vaccines ...

by Hamadou Modibo Dicko, Philippe Jaillard, and Benjamin Schreiber, AMP; Bruce Y. Lee, University of Pittsburgh; and Heidi Lasher, consultant to project Optimize To improve immunization program performance, the Government of Benin is using cutting-edge modeling tools to better understand how chan...

Many thanks to Mojtaba Haghgou for sharing this article with the forum. Vaccine cold chain functional inventory and gap analysis: Looking at all existing cold chain equipment at one go Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Iran, July 2011 By Dr. Mohsen Zahraei, EPI Manager and Mr. G. Zamani, V...

Cool Containers has developed and introduced the PharmaPort 360 container for 5C transport of vaccines and bio-pharmaceuticals. Recently UPS delivered $9 Million worth of Flu Vaccine to Laos, it was a tricky 9000 mile delivery: http://youtu.be/p5V6f-KRWiE Cool Containers is very interested in wo...

by Dr. Thierno Seydou Nourou Guèye, Pharmacie Régionale d’Approvisionnement de Saint-Louis; Madjiguène Ndiaye Coulibaly, SNEIPS*; Ibrahima Leye, consultant A project in Senegal that uses a specially equipped truck to transport vaccine supplies has proven so successful that it is now being expande...

by Kristina Lorenson, PATH Regional distribution centers (RDCs) may be a realistic option for countries that distribute large quantities of vaccines and need to invest in cold chain infrastructure, according to a report by project Optimize. The report, completed this month, assesses the cost of ...

Cross-posted from the January 2012 [i]Global Immunization News issue. Many thanks. [/i] 31/01/2012 from UNICEF Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEECIS) The suggestion that I post this news came from Mojtaba Haghgou--the VSSM expert. Following the decision...

by Patrick Lydon, World Health Organization; Chutima Suraratdecha, PATH; Michelle Arnot, Western Cape Department of Health; Ticky Raubenheimer, Collaborative Centre for Cold Chain Management; Arthorn Riewpaiboon, Mahidol University; and Cha-oncin Sooksriwong, Mahidol University In recent years, ...

by Juanita Folmsbee, SCMS and Hai Le, PATH While project Optimize seeks innovative supply chain solutions for vaccines, it often finds those solutions already being implemented in other supply chain systems. In this article, we explore a success story from the Supply Chain Management System (SCM...

Written by: Madjiguène Ndiaye, SNEIPS; Ibrahima Leye, Consultant; and Mariama Gueye, PATH On October 27, 2010, the Government of Senegal officially launched a new project to demonstrate the impact of various changes and upgrades to the vaccine supply chain including the use of mobile warehouses to...

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