Promising Practices in Capacity Development for Health Supply Chains in Resource-Constrained Countries

Abstract

Performance gaps in health supply chains in low- and middle-income countries contribute significantly to inefficiencies and underperformance of their health systems. Some significant factors hindering the performance of supply chains in low and middle-income countries include low human resource capacity and capability, weak structures for monitoring supply chain performance, weak in-service and pre-service training programs, chronic underfunding, lack of transparency and an overdependence on obsolete methods, like manual data gathering, record-keeping, and analyses. Although proven health supply chain strengthening techniques exist, the level of adoption of these practices has varied across countries, resulting in multiple capacity gaps and underperforming supply chains. The resulting challenges require complementary and needs-based practices to address the gaps. While it is recognized that there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution to these issues, we demonstrate that real benefits can be achieved by using "promising practices"-that is, using targeted, innovative interventions. To demonstrate the potential of using promising practices in the health supply chain in Africa and the breadth of possible solutions available, we present 3 case studies from different contexts and with different objectives.