International Association of Public Health Logisiticians
IAPHL hosts facilitated discussions about health supply chain logistics on its listserv. Below are summaries of the discussions, with excerpted comments from IAPHL members.
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August 2016: IAPHL colleagues discussed the Ebola outbreak and how it affected their supply chains. Specifically, how was the Ebola outbreak different from other supply chain challenges such as HIV and AIDS? For chronic and comparatively unchanging diseases, logisticians can plan and develop a static supply chain, but acute outbreaks... Read more
Technical areas: emergency response
In May and June 2016, IAPHL held a discussion called “Shining the Spotlight on People.” Summary of Week 1 discussion The question for the first week was: What is really going on with human resources in my supply chain? Is it really just a lack of capacity? Or is it... Read more
Technical areas: human resources
Throughout the month of December 2015, the IAPHL community engaged in a discussion called “Supply Chains and GIS: How Geography Can Strengthen the Analysis of Supply Chains.” In this conversation IAPHL members looked at how the mapping of geographic and development data can be linked with logistics data to improve... Read more
Technical areas: M&E, technology, transport
In November 2014, IAPHL members discussed the logistics of maintaining laboratory equipment. This discussion served as a follow up to the earlier discussion on the maintenance of supply chain assets led by Clinton de Souza. In this discussion members looked specifically at the special needs and challenges of maintaining lab equipment to minimize... Read more
Technical areas: laboratory, policy
October 2014, Throughout the month of October, the IAPHL community engaged in a moderated discussion entitled “Improving Immunization Supply Chains.” The moderator was Daniel Thornton, director of strategic initiatives at GAVI. He discussed the new global immunization supply chain strategy that GAVI has developed in conjunction with WHO, UNICEF, and the... Read more
Technical areas: immunization
On September 2014, IAPHL members discussed best practices for the management of hazardous waste. This conversation was facilitated by Scott Ackerson of SCMS, Kasra Mofarah of Pharmacie et aide Humanitaire, Victoria Masembe of The AIDS Support Technical Assistance Resources, and Nancy Muller of PATH. The discussion consisted of three parts,... Read more
Technical areas: waste minimization
On August 2014, IAPHL members engaged in a lively discussion titled “Maintaining Our Supply Chain Assets.” Members shared experiences and best practices about maintaining a range of supply chain related equipment, including IT equipment, vehicles, basic doors and locks. The discussion was moderated by Clinton de Souza of SCMS, who... Read more
Technical areas: equipment
Members discussed their experiences and perspectives on as they collectively discussed an accurate and all-encompassing definition of a “public health supply chain.” This discussion was moderated by Kossivi Agbelenko Afanvi (Ministry of Health, Togo). Original message: Some initial attempts were made to define supply chain in the health care system.... Read more
Technical areas: policy