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      Supply-chain strategies for essential medicines in rural western Kenya during COVID-19 Translated title: Stratégies d'approvisionnement en médicaments essentiels dans les régions rurales du Kenya occidental durant la pandémie de COVID-19 Translated title: Estrategias de la cadena de suministro de medicamentos esenciales en las zonas rurales del oeste de Kenia durante la COVID-19 Translated title: استراتيجيات سلسلة الإمداد للأدوية الأساسية في غرب كينيا الريفي أثناء جائحة
كوفيد 19 Translated title: 新型冠状病毒肺炎期间肯尼亚西部农村地区基本药物相关供应链战略 Translated title: Стратегии цепочки поставок основных лекарственных средств в сельские районы Западной Кении во время пандемии COVID-19

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          Abstract

          Problem

          The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted health systems worldwide and threatened the supply of essential medicines. Especially affected are vulnerable patients in low- and middle-income countries who can only afford access to public health systems.

          Approach

          Soon after physical distancing and curfew orders began on 15 March 2020 in Kenya, we rapidly implemented three supply-chain strategies to ensure a continuous supply of essential medicines while minimizing patients’ COVID-19 exposure risks. We redistributed central stocks of medicines to peripheral health facilities to ensure local availability for several months. We equipped smaller, remote health facilities with medicine tackle boxes. We also made deliveries of medicines to patients with difficulty reaching facilities.

          Local setting

          Τo implement these strategies we leveraged our 30-year partnership with local health authorities in rural western Kenya and the existing revolving fund pharmacy scheme serving 85 peripheral health centres.

          Relevant changes

          In April 2020, stocks of essential chronic and non-chronic disease medicines redistributed to peripheral health facilities increased to 835 140 units, as compared with 316 330 units in April 2019. We provided medicine tackle boxes to an additional 46 health facilities. Our team successfully delivered medications to 264 out of 311 patients (84.9%) with noncommunicable diseases whom we were able to reach.

          Lessons learnt

          Our revolving fund pharmacy model has ensured that patients’ access to essential medicines has not been interrupted during the pandemic. Success was built on a community approach to extend pharmaceutical services, adapting our current supply-chain infrastructure and working quickly in partnership with local health authorities.

          Résumé

          Problème

          La pandémie de maladie à coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) a bouleversé les systèmes de santé du monde entier et menacé l'approvisionnement en médicaments essentiels. Dans les pays à faible et moyen revenu, les patients vulnérables ayant uniquement accès aux soins de santé publics ont été particulièrement affectés.

          Approche

          Peu après l'instauration de la distanciation physique et du couvre-feu le 15 mars 2020 au Kenya, nous avons rapidement mis en œuvre trois stratégies visant à assurer un approvisionnement continu en médicaments essentiels, tout en limitant les risques d'exposition des patients au coronavirus. Nous avons redistribué les principaux stocks de médicaments aux établissements sanitaires périphériques afin de garantir leur disponibilité pendant plusieurs mois. Nous avons fourni des boîtes de matériel médical aux petits centres de soins implantés dans des régions reculées. Nous avons également livré des médicaments aux patients incapables de se rendre dans un établissement.

          Environnement local

          Pour déployer ces stratégies, nous avons profité de nos trente années de partenariat avec les autorités sanitaires locales dans les régions rurales du Kenya occidental et compté sur le modèle existant de financement pharmaceutique renouvelable, qui dessert 85 centres de soins périphériques.

          Changements significatifs

          Les stocks de médicaments essentiels servant au traitement de maladies chroniques et non chroniques redistribués aux centres de soins périphériques sont passés de 316 330 unités en avril 2019 à 835 140 unités en avril 2020. Nous avons procuré des boîtes de matériel médical à 46 centres de soins supplémentaires. Notre équipe a réussi à livrer des médicaments à 264 des 311 patients (84,9%) souffrant de maladies non transmissibles que nous sommes parvenus à contacter.

          Leçons tirées

          Grâce à notre modèle de financement pharmaceutique renouvelable, les patients ont pu accéder aux médicaments essentiels sans interruption durant la pandémie. Ce succès repose sur une approche communautaire destinée à étendre les services pharmaceutiques en adaptant l'infrastructure de notre chaîne d'approvisionnement actuelle, et en avançant rapidement par le biais de partenariats avec les autorités sanitaires locales.

          Resumen

          Situación

          La pandemia de la enfermedad por coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19)ha perturbado los sistemas sanitarios de todo el mundo y ha amenazado el suministro de medicamentos esenciales. Se ven especialmente afectados los pacientes vulnerables de los países de ingresos bajos y medios que solo pueden acceder a los sistemas sanitarios públicos.

          Enfoque

          Poco después de que comenzaran el distanciamiento físico y las órdenes de toque de queda el 15 de marzo de 2020 en Kenia, pusimos en marcha rápidamente tres estrategias para garantizar un suministro continuo de medicamentos esenciales y minimizar al mismo tiempo los riesgos de exposición de los pacientes al COVID-19. Redistribuimos las existencias centrales de medicamentos a los centros de salud periféricos para garantizar la disponibilidad local durante varios meses. Equipamos a los centros de salud más pequeños y remotos con cajas de botiquín. También hicimos entregas de medicamentos a pacientes con dificultades para llegar a los centros.

          Marco regional

          Para poner en práctica estas estrategias, hemos aprovechado nuestra asociación de 30 años con las autoridades sanitarias locales de las zonas rurales del oeste de Kenia y nos hemos apoyado en el modelo existente de financiación farmacéutica rotatoria, que atiende a 85 centros de salud periféricos.

          Cambios importantes

          Las existencias de medicamentos esenciales para el tratamiento de enfermedades crónicas y no crónicas redistribuidas a los centros de atención periférica pasaron de 316.330 unidades en abril de 2019 a 835.140 unidades en abril de 2020. Hemos adquirido cajas de material médico para otros 46 centros de salud. Nuestro equipo pudo entregar medicamentos a 264 de los 311 pacientes (84,9%) con enfermedades no transmisibles con los que logramos contactar.

          Lecciones aprendidas

          Gracias a nuestro modelo de financiación farmacéutica rotatoria, los pacientes pudieron acceder a los medicamentos esenciales sin interrupción durante la pandemia. Este éxito se basa en un enfoque comunitario para ampliar los servicios farmacéuticos adaptando nuestra infraestructura de cadena de suministro existente y avanzando rápidamente mediante asociaciones con las autoridades sanitarias locales.

          ملخص

          المشكلة لقد أدت جائحة مرض فيروس كورونا إلى تعطيل النظم الصحية على مستوى العالم وهددت الإمداد بالأدوية الأساسية. من المتأثرين بشكل خاص المرضى المهمشون في البلدان ذات الدخل المنخفض والمتوسط ممن يستطيعون أن يتحملوا تكلفة التعامل مع النظم الصحية العامة فقط.

          الأسلوب بمجرد أن بدأت أوامر التباعد الجسدي وحظر التجول في يوم 15 مارس/آذار 2020 في كينيا، اتبعنا سريعًا ثلاث استراتيجيات لضمان الإمداد المستمر بالأدوية الأساسية مع الحد من مخاطر تعرض المرضى لفيروس كورونا. لقد أعدنا توزيع المخزونات الأساسية من الأدوية على المنشآت الصحية الطرفية لضمان التوافر المحلي لعدة أشهر. قمنا بتجهيز منشآت صحية نائية أصغر بحاويات الأدوية. قمنا أيضًا بعمليات توصيل للأدوية إلى المرضى الذين يعانون من صعوبة الوصول إلى المنشآت.

          المواقع المحلية لتنفيذ هذه الاستراتيجيات، اعتمدنا على شراكتنا الممتدة لفترة 30 سنة مع السلطات الصحية المحلية في غرب كينيا الريفي والمخطط الدوار القائم لتمويل الصيدليات والذي يخدم 85 مركزًا صحيًا طرفيًا.

          التغيّرات ذات الصلة في شهر أبريل/نيسان 2020، ارتفعت مخزونات الأدوية الأساسية للأمراض المزمنة وغير المزمنة التي تمت إعادة توزيعها على المنشآت الصحية الطرفية إلى 835140 وحدة في مقابل 316330 وحدة في شهر أبريل/نيسان 2019. لقد وفّرنا حاويات أدوية إلى 46 منشأة صحية إضافية. نجح فريقنا في توصيل العلاجات إلى 264 من 311 مريضًا (84,9%) مصابين بأمراض غير معدية استطعنا الوصول إليهم.

          الدروس المستفادة لقد ضمن نموذجنا الدوار لتمويل الصيدليات عدم انقطاع حصول المرضى على الأدوية الأساسية أثناء الجائحة. اعتمد النجاح على نهج مجتمعي لتمديد الخدمات الصيدلانية وتكييف بنيتنا التحتية الحالية لسلسلة الإمداد والعمل سريعًا في شراكة مع السلطات الصحية المحلية.

          摘要

          问题

          新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情扰乱了全球卫生系统,并威胁到基本药物的供应。中低收入国家那些仅可负担公共卫生系统就诊费用的弱势患者群体所受影响尤其严重。

          方法

          自 2020 年 3 月 15 日肯尼亚开始实施物理距离限制措施及宵禁令之后,我们随即推出了三种供应链战略,以确保不间断供应基本药物,同时最大程度地降低患者感染冠状病毒肺炎的风险。我们将中央库存药物重新分配给次级卫生机构,以保证在随后几个月内地方药物供应充足。我们为规模较小、位置偏远的卫生机构配备了医疗用品箱。我们还为难以前往卫生机构的患者配送药物。

          当地状况

          为实施这些战略,我们充分利用我们与肯尼亚西部农村地区地方卫生当局 30 年来建立的合作关系并切实推行为 85 个次级卫生中心提供服务的现有循环基金药房计划。

          相关变化

          与 2019 年 4 月(316,330 份)相比,2020 年 4 月重新分配给次级卫生机构的基本慢性和非慢性疾病库存药物已增至 835,140 份。我们为另外 46 个卫生机构提供了医疗用品箱。在 311 名我们能接触到的患有非传染性疾病的患者中,我们团队成功为 264 名患者(占 84.9%)提供了药物治疗。

          经验教训

          我们的循环基金药房模型确保了大流行期间患者仍能够不间断地获得基本药物。本次能够取得成功,主要在于扩大了社区的药学服务范围,调整了我们当前的供应链基础设施并与当地卫生部门迅速展开了合作。

          Резюме

          Проблема

          Пандемия заболевания, вызываемого коронавирусом 2019-nCoV, негативно отразилась на системах здравоохранения во всем мире и создала угрозу для поставок основных лекарственных средств. Особенно значительное влияние было оказано на уязвимых пациентов в странах с низким и средним уровнем доходов, которые могут позволить себе только услуги системы общественного здравоохранения.

          Подход

          Вскоре после того, как 15 марта 2020 года в Кении были введены физическое дистанцирование и комендантский час, нами были незамедлительно реализованы три стратегии, касающиеся цепочек поставок, в целях обеспечения непрерывных поставок основных лекарственных средств при минимизации риска заражения пациентов коронавирусом. Нами были перераспределены центральные запасы лекарственных средств по периферийным медицинским учреждениям для обеспечения их наличия на местах в течение нескольких месяцев. Небольшие отдаленные медицинские учреждения были оборудованы аптечками. Кроме того, нами осуществлялась доставка лекарственных средств пациентам, не имеющим возможности беспрепятственно добираться до лечебных учреждений.

          Местные условия

          Для реализации указанных стратегий нами были использованы механизмы, наработанные за 30 лет нашего партнерства с местными органами здравоохранения в сельских районах Западной Кении, а также существующий оборотный фонд аптечной индустрии, обслуживающий 85 медицинских центров, находящихся на периферии.

          Осуществленные перемены

          В апреле 2020 года запасы основных лекарственных средств от хронических и нехронических заболеваний, перераспределенные в периферийные медицинские учреждения, увеличились до 835 140 единиц в сравнении с показателем в 316 330 единиц, зафиксированным в апреле 2019 года. Дополнительные 46 медицинских учреждений были обеспечены аптечками. Наша команда успешно поставила лекарства 264 пациентам из 311 (84,9%) с неинфекционными заболеваниями, до которых нам удалось добраться.

          Выводы

          Наша модель аптечного оборотного фонда обеспечила беспрерывный доступ пациентов к основным лекарственным средствам во время пандемии. Успех был основан на социологическом подходе к расширению доступности фармацевтических услуг, адаптации нашей текущей инфраструктуры цепочки поставок и оперативном взаимодействии с местными органами здравоохранения.

          Related collections

          Most cited references10

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          Responding to the HIV pandemic: the power of an academic medical partnership.

          Partnerships between academic medical center (AMCs) in North America and the developing world are uniquely capable of fulfilling the tripartite needs of care, training, and research required to address health care crises in the developing world. Moreover, the institutional resources and credibility of AMCs can provide the foundation to build systems of care with long-term sustainability, even in resource-poor settings. The authors describe a partnership between Indiana University School of Medicine and Moi University and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya that demonstrates the power of an academic medical partnership in its response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Through the Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS, the partnership currently treats over 40,000 HIV-positive patients at 19 urban and rural sites in western Kenya, now enrolls nearly 2,000 new HIV positive patients every month, feeds up to 30,000 people weekly, enables economic security, fosters HIV prevention, tests more than 25,000 pregnant women annually for HIV, engages communities, and is developing a robust electronic information system. The partnership evolved from a program of limited size and a focus on general internal medicine into one of the largest and most comprehensive HIV/AIDS-control systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The partnership's rapid increase in scale, combined with the comprehensive and long-term approach to the region's health care needs, provides a twinning model that can and should be replicated to address the shameful fact that millions are dying of preventable and treatable diseases in the developing world.
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            Medication management and adherence during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives and experiences from LMICs

            The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is placing a huge strain on health systems worldwide. Suggested solutions like social distancing and lockdowns in some areas to help contain the spread of the virus may affect special patient populations like those with chronic illnesses who are unable to access healthcare facilities for their routine care and medicines management. Retail pharmacy outlets are the likely facilities for easy access by these patients. The contribution of community pharmacists in these facilities in managing chronic conditions and promoting medication adherence during this COVID-19 pandemic will be essential in easing the burden on already strained health systems. This paper highlights the pharmaceutical care practices of community pharmacists for patients with chronic diseases. during this pandemic. This would provide support for the call by the WHO to maintain essential services during the pandemic, in order to prevent non-COVID disease burden on healthcare systems particularly in low-and middle-income countries.
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              COVID-19 and risks to the supply and quality of tests, drugs, and vaccines

              Emergency efforts are underway to find optimum medical products to prevent infection and diagnose and treat patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Production and supply chains for COVID-19 candidate drugs (such as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine), and for many other essential medical products, are being impaired by this crisis. 1 Supply chains for vital drugs for other diseases (such as systemic lupus erythematosus) are being disrupted because they are being repurposed to use against COVID-19, without adequate supporting evidence. Without preparation for the quality assurance of diagnostic tests, drugs, and vaccines, the world risks a parallel pandemic of substandard and falsified products. Interventions are needed globally to ensure access to safe, quality assured, and effective medical products on which the world's population will depend. History provides us with warnings. Quackery was rampant during the Great Plague of the 17th century. When cinchona bark became the treatment for malaria in the 17th century, it was adulterated on a vast scale. After World War 2, penicillin shortages led to widespread falsification. 2 Substandard drugs (because of production or supply chain errors) are driven by cost reduction, whereas falsified agents (because of fraud) thrive on shortages, particularly when buyers depart from regulated supply chains. 3 The COVID-19 pandemic threatens a global surge in substandard and falsified medical products, not just for those directly related to COVID-19. Many products essential for COVID-19 treatment and prevention are at risk, including face masks, hand sanitiser, and diagnostic tests, and false claims have been made for prevention and treatment. 4 Many falsehoods proliferate through illegal websites and social media, 5 and these occurrences will mushroom. Poorly substantiated claims about effectiveness of drugs for treating COVID-19 have led to widespread shortages of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine and to fatal overdoses. 6 Panicked global populations are desperate to procure products that might prevent and treat COVID-19. When chloroquine was used for malaria treatment, falsified versions were common. 7 Paracetamol is at risk; in the past, nephrotoxic substandard and falsified paracetamol syrup caused hundreds of deaths. 8 The Medicine Quality Monitoring Globe scours the internet for reports of substandard and falsified medical products in many languages, giving the general public early warnings of drug quality problems. Multiple diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive interventions for COVID-19 are being trialed. 9 If products prove to be efficacious against COVID-19, achieving global benefit will require prompt access for all people in need. Drugs must be affordable, quality assured, and not hoarded or diverted from treatment of malaria, autoimmune diseases, or HIV/AIDS. Ineffective interventions, wasting resources, and causing harm should be opposed by robust policies and community-specific public engagement. We need to plan strategically to ensure global manufacture, access, protection, and monitoring of supply chains in the face of unescapable shortages, cost increases, and national hoarding. All our fates are bound together, and any helpful products must be recognised as global assets. The effect on access to other products (eg, HIV diagnostics) must be minimised. Coordinated information-sharing among global medicines regulators on authorisations for clinical trials, Monitored Emergency Use of Unregistered and Investigational Interventions, and off-label use, as well as comprehensive and rapid reporting of shortages of active ingredients and finished products by industry and regulators, are essential to optimise global demand and supply. With in-person inspections suspended by many regulators, greater use of reliance mechanisms and full information-sharing among regulators is vital. 10 Effective regulatory supervision, emergency prequalification, robust authentication measures, and procurement policies supporting quality, with abjuring of national export restriction policies, the informal market, and illegal online websites, combined with trusted public engagement campaigns, will be needed to reduce substandard and falsified medical products. Few nations have medicine regulatory authorities classed by WHO as well functioning and integrated regulatory systems, rendering most populations especially vulnerable to substandard and falsified medical products. Innovative regional mechanisms (eg, the African Vaccine Regulatory Forum) might be part of the solution in this urgency. As efficacious COVID-19 treatments and vaccines are approved, intense global coordinated production, distribution chains, and postmarket surveillance will be needed to protect the general public from manufacturing and supply chain failures, inadequate manufacturing protocols, and criminals selling falsified products. 11 Robust evaluation of diagnostics tests (premarket and postmarket) to ensure accuracy will be vital; bad tests will be worse than no tests. If a drug is shown to be efficacious, devices able to detect whether the product contains the stated amount of active ingredient with appropriate dissolution will be important in supporting postmarket surveillance. Many portable screening devices are available but with scant evidence for their effectiveness. Few data exist to show which agents these devices can detect; none has yet been shown to accurately quantify diverse active ingredients. 12 These devices will need to be integrated into national regulatory standards and WHO's Prevent, Detect and Respond frameworks, using public pharmacopeial standards. 9 Drug quality is vulnerable to fear, desperation, and disinformation. While hoping that the efforts of WHO and global coalitions to accelerate COVID-19 research will provide the means to fight this pandemic, we must ensure that access to affordable quality medical products, particularly in low-resource settings, does not become another casualty.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Bull World Health Organ
                Bull World Health Organ
                BLT
                Bulletin of the World Health Organization
                World Health Organization
                0042-9686
                1564-0604
                01 May 2021
                10 February 2021
                : 99
                : 5
                : 388-392
                Affiliations
                [a ]Department of Pharmacy Practice, Temple University School of Pharmacy , Philadelphia, United States of America (USA).
                [b ]Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare, Eldoret, Kenya.
                [c ]Department of Family Medicine, Moi University School of Medicine, Eldoret, Kenya.
                [d ]Department of Pharmacy, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya.
                [e ]Department of Pharmacy Practice, Purdue University College of Pharmacy, 640 Eskenazi Ave, West Lafayette, IN 46202, USA.
                [f ]Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine , New York, USA.
                Author notes
                Correspondence to Sonak D Pastakia (email: spastaki@ 123456purdue.edu ).
                Article
                BLT.20.271593
                10.2471/BLT.20.271593
                8061666
                33958827
                10316225-6911-4ac5-96cf-bc21af7379a9
                (c) 2021 The authors; licensee World Health Organization.

                This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution IGO License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/legalcode), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In any reproduction of this article there should not be any suggestion that WHO or this article endorse any specific organization or products. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article's original URL.

                History
                : 27 June 2020
                : 08 December 2020
                : 14 December 2020
                Categories
                Lessons from the Field

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