SCMS provides immediate response in Haiti
Within 48 hours following the January 12 earthquake, our staff in Haiti returned to the still intact SCMS warehouse, identified supplies that would be useful for crisis response, and began shipping kits of emergency medicines and supplies to Port-au-Prince hospitals.
As of January 19, more than 40,000 pounds of medicines and emergency medical supplies from warehouse stock had already been distributed to 30 health facilities (16 hospitals and 14 other clinical sites) in Port-au-Prince. Emergency kits come from existing supplies in the SCMS warehouse and include antibiotics and other essential medicines, blood transfusion sets, first aid supplies, infusion solution and oral rehydration salts and syringes.
SCMS staff in Haiti and around the globe are assessing current stocks of commodities available to help with disaster relief, gathering lists of needed commodities, identifying suppliers, assessing the most effective ways to ship and determining how else we can contribute to the relief effort.
In addition to helping with the emergency response, SCMS is also focused on preventing interruption in ART in the aftermath of the earthquake. Just seven days after the initial earthquake, SCMS also made its resupply of antiretroviral (ARV) medicines for a health facility, and by January 21 began regular resupply of ARVs to multiple clinics.
Key Objectives
- Implement a coordinated procurement mechanism, prepare regular national quantifications and supply plans and develop management support for better coordination
- Have an efficient central warehouse with trained and capable staff and implement a warehouse management software system to manage commodities
- Have regular quantifications and supply plans for all HIV commodities (including antiretroviral medicines, opportunistic infection (OI) drugs, rapid test kits, laboratory commodities and equipment), to procure in accordance with those plans and assist in ensuring the availability of quality standard treatment guidelines
- Build capacity and enhance the laboratory supply chain through standardization, quantification, local procurement and efficient distribution
Activities and Impact
Value of commodities delivered as of December 2008: 11.6 million
Capacity building: As the number of patients being treated grows in Haiti, so does the need to treat opportunistic infections with an increased volume and range of drugs. To meet the challenge of managing this inventory, SCMS has developed a cadre of master trainers to instruct pharmacists, site managers and drug dispensers working in treatment centers on the techniques of logistics and stock management. These master trainers are currently conducting regular workshops, training 20 to 40 participants quarterly at as many sites. SCMS also conducted a training session on basic logistics adapted to the needs of the blood safety program with the Red Cross. Over time, these capacity-building efforts will contribute to sustained improvements in managing and distributing vital medicines and supplies on the front lines of HIV/AIDS patient care.
Warehousing: SCMS is the main buyer for laboratory supplies in Haiti, with responsibility for between 85 and 100 percent of the national need for HIV patients. To meet the need for more storage space for laboratory commodities, SCMS established a 1,400-square-meter warehouse strategically located in Port-au-Prince. The warehouse uses an automated warehouse management system (WMS) tool to leverage hand-held and radio frequency technology to improve warehousing and storage. The warehouse also includes a 25-square-meter cold room to maintain a constant temperature for storing lab reagents.
Distribution: SCMS’s distribution network, which started with 12 sites in 2006, now includes more than 100 sites across the country. Some of these sites are located in areas that are extremely difficult to access. SCMS is also providing technical assistance on-site to logistics-related health workers.
The 2008 hurricane season in Haiti brought devastation to the country’s infrastructure. In the storm’s aftermath, SCMS has helped to ensure continued access to essential medicines and supplies.
SCMS participated in finalizing the memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Health and the Clinton Foundation to provide free 2nd-line antiretrovirals (ARVs) to Haiti. SCMS is charged with storing and distributing those medicines to treatment sites.
Logistics Management Information System: SCMS has installed at 19 treatment sites a new ARV dispensing tool that enables sites to maintain electronic records of basic patient information including ARV and OI regimens, consumption data, and stock information.
Forecasting: In December 2008, SCMS conducted a forecasting and quantification exercise for ARVs and lab commodities that produced a 24-month quantification report and a 12-month supply plan for ARVs, OI drugs and laboratory commodities for the PEPFAR program.
Currently, SCMS is in negotiations with the USG team in Haiti to add a nutrition-treatment component to our work, such as procurement, storage and distribution of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) and fortified blended foods (FBF). We are preparing a report on the strategies and requirements to run such a new component while quantifying the needs based on national norms and pre-set targets. The program is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2009.
