The scenario of Indian Public Health Supply Chain

An effective and reliable supply chain is the foundation of a country's capacity to respond to healthcare requirements in the area of public health.

"Public health depends on winning over hearts and minds. It's not enough to just have a good policy, you have to convince people to actually follow it" - Leana S. Wen

The challenges of maintaining a public health supply chain are nothing short of gigantic for a nation as diverse and populous as India. In this article, the complex network of issues, breakthroughs, and trends that characterize the public health supply chain environment in India are provided. With a population of more than 1.3 billion, ensuring access to necessary medical care and pharmaceuticals is an enormous problem. The effectiveness and robustness of India's supply chain infrastructure play a critical role in determining the performance of the country's public health system.

-According to the National Health Profile 2020, India boasts over 2 million registered allopathic doctors, 10,500 hospitals, and 7.5 lakh (750,000) sub-health centers across the nation. But this does not make good case for her!!!!

COVID-19 pandemic exposed some of these vulnerabilities, highlighting the urgent need for a more resilient and adaptable supply chain.

-India's public health supply chain is fundamentally dependent on the National Health Mission (NHM) which earmarked significant funds for bolstering the supply chain infrastructure. Investments were undertaken to improve transportation systems, establish improved inventory management procedures, and increase storage capacity. Example is-?The Electronic vaccination Intelligence Network (eVIN), a very good LMS.?

-Innovative solutions are being developed thanks to public-private sector partnerships. The "Make in India" initiative has encouraged domestic production of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment with the goal of lowering reliance on imports and boosting supply chain resilience.

The chellnges are many.

India's Vast Geograpy and Diversity: Remote and rural areas often lack proper infrastructure, making it difficult to reach essential supplies even they are lying at hubs and satate wahrehouses.

Inadequate Infrastructure: Like storage facilities and transportation networks, issues like stockouts, product deterioration, and delays etc.

Poor Visibility: Diffecult to get accurate and real-time data on inventory levels. This makes quantification/demand forecasting poor. The systems are leaking and inefficiencies with lack of transparency.

Demand Variability: The healthcare demand in India can vary significantly across regions and seasons and can result in either stockouts or excess wastage.

Regulatory and Compliance Issues: The pharmaceutical sector regulatory issues, Poor quality of supplies, State-center issues, project implimentation problems etc.

Many more possible....

It will take the cooperation of many parties, including government organizations, healthcare providers, partners in the corporate sector, and the community, to fix the public health supply chain in India. The public health supply chain in India can be improved and fixed using the following ideas and actions.

Possible wayout--

Improve training and capacity building, encourage public-private partnerships, implement supply chain visibility tools, engage the community, and streamline regulatory processes. Invest in ICT, in both infrastructure and technology........

-Join me on this journey into the heart of India's public health supply chain to uncover intricacies, applaud successes, and explore ongoing efforts to ensure that essential healthcare reaches every corner this country. Stay tuned !!

(SABHAR_)