JSI Selected to Strengthen Supply Chains for Neglected Tropical Diseases

Making health commodities available at the last mile of delivery. Photo: JSI.

We are pleased to announce that JSI was selected by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—in a collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and several pharmaceutical companies—to implement the Supply Chain Technical Support Mechanism (SCTSM) for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). This Gates-funded project will support the activities of the newly launched NTD Global Oversight Committee, which will engage the same partner organizations and work to solve challenges related to supply chain management and medicine donations for NTDs at all levels of the supply chain.

“JSI is proud to apply our extensive experience in developing and implementing robust, sustainable supply chains to this important project,” said Sarah Andersson, JSI project director for SCTSM. “This new project will put important systems in place to collect data, manage inventory, reduce wastage, mainstream NTD medicines into the national health supply chain, and strengthen local health systems.”

The five-year SCTSM project will work closely with WHO and other partners to strengthen the supply chain, especially at the last mile, for NTD medicines in eight African countries and share lessons to benefit countries across Africa. JSI is implementing this project in collaboration with our East African affiliate, inSupply Health, to ensure people-centered, locally focused supply chain systems.’

NTDs harm people’s health, hinder their ability to work, and often result in social stigma or exclusion. They affect more than one billion people, or one in eight worldwide, but receive relatively little attention on the global health agenda. Nearly 40 percent of the global NTD burden affects people in Africa.

Medicine to treat and prevent NTDs is often donated and then distributed through mass drug administration. However, various challenges, including supply chain logistics, often result in large amounts of unused and expired medicine, putting the global NTD medicine donation program at risk. By strengthening NTD supply chains, the SCTSM supports the Sustainable Development Goals and the related NTD roadmap to prevent, control, or eliminate NTDs by 2030.

The JSI portfolio of over 40 supply chain projects demonstrates our commitment to co-designing innovative supply chain solutions that create more equitable access to high-quality health supplies and services. Learn more about our global supply chain management work.