Building resilient SRH supply chains during COVID-19 and beyond: A Roadmap for SRH Community Action

Publication date: 2020

BUILDING RESILIENT SRH SUPPLY CHAINS DURING COVID-19 AND BEYOND: A Roadmap for SRH Community Action BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has created acute disruptions to public health supply chains, revealing underlying vulnerabilities in the global supply ecosystems and adding increased uncertainty to both supply and demand of life-saving sexual and reproductive health (SRH) medicines and products. It is unclear which interventions will be most effective at maintaining access to SRH products during the current crises while also building a more resilient system that can better withstand future disruptions. RESPONSE The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC), with technical support from John Snow, Inc. (JSI), is leading a six-month effort to move from anecdote to evidence through a rapid assessment of the current constraints to SRH product availability created and exacerbated by COVID-19. We will create a community roadmap to help prioritize practical actions that can address both current, acute challenges and also promote greater supply chain resiliency and a more coordinated SRH community response in the longer term. This work will generate evidence to help the SRH community better understand: » The disruptions occurring in the supply chain as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic » The effects of these disruptions on the supply chain for SRH » The actionable solutions that can accelerate opportunities and address weaknesses July 2020 APPROACH Our Overarching Framework Guiding our approach will be an overarching framework that reflects the end to end supply chain for SRH products. The framework comprises: • Supply chain levels and players – e.g. global (API production, manufacturers, donors), national (MOH, procurers, distributors), and subnational (service delivery points, retail, etc.) • Supply chain management components (e.g. manufacturing, procurement, logistics, care, systems, and strategy) • Different product segments – pharmaceutical, non-pharmaceutical, internationally and regionally/ locally sourced Data collection and analysis » Data collection and analysis will be collaborative and opportunistic, leveraging existing data and analysis including public data sources, partner surveys, key informant interviews, and other relevant inputs » Existing data will also be supplemented with in-depth data to provide context and highlight the effect of supply chain disruptions at the last mile. This primary data will be collected at the national and sub- national levels (as possible) in several countries where JSI has a presence and familiarity with the supply chain context Output By the end of this assessment, we will offer a roadmap to help the SRH community prioritize practical actions for promoting greater supply chain resiliency and a more effective and coordinated community response in the longer term. The roadmap will provide: » An analysis of causal relationships, risks and mitigation opportunities for different SRH products and programmatic contexts » A prioritization of short-term actions for addressing current, acute supply risks related to COVID-19 » Long-term learnings and opportunities for a reimagined SRH supply chain that is more responsive and resilient to future disruptions For more information about this work, please contact Alexis Heaton at JSI (alexis_heaton@jsi.com). www.jsi.com www.rhsupplies.org Note: The framework and approach will be applied to various sourcing strategies and products in the supply chain. mailto:alexis_heaton%40jsi.com?subject=

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