Posted: December 1, 2020

Children Without Worms (CWW) hosts the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Supply Chain Forum (SCF) meeting

CWW hosted the second of the bi-annual meetings of the NTD SCF in September 2020. Participants included representatives from national Ministries of Health, the WHO, implementing partner organizations, and pharmaceutical donors such as Merck Healthcare KGaA, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., J&J, GSK, Eisai,  and Pfizer. (Access meeting report here.)

Spread over the course of three days via a virtual platform, the meeting included updates from representatives of pharmaceutical donors and the various working groups set up to solve supply chain management challenges in delivering pharmaceutical products to endemic countries.

 

The supply chain forum was particularly relevant this year, as CWW encouraged dialogue and creative solutions to COVID-19 challenges. Participants identified that with the reduction of flights, border closures and restrictions, the delivery of NTD medications has posed many challenges. Further, mass drug administrations (MDA) have decreased because of COVID-19 restrictions such as school closures. Participants noted that missed MDAs may also trigger the need for an additional MDA in 2021 to keep the programs on track.

To overcome such challenges, NTD SCF participants proposed concise measures for ensuring the delivery of medicines to affected communities. Several recommendations were made at the end of the three-day meeting, including next steps to guide the future of the NTD SCF.

The next virtual forum meeting is scheduled for February 23-24, 2021.

 

Access meeting report here.