Youth & Health Supply Chains in Tanzania

Before the month of May ends I thought of penning my thoughts related to an event I participated in earlier this month. I was invited as a panelist by the Muhimbili University of Health & Allied Sciences (MUHAS) Students Symposium Debate (MUSSD) team for a medical and pharmaceutical #supplychain symposium with the theme "The Role of #Technology & #Innovation in Strengthening the Resilience & Self-Reliance of Medical & Pharmaceutical Supply Chains in #Tanzania". The lengthy title aside, I am always very impressed by the #health students of today in terms of the activities that they organize and inspired by their zeal towards learning.

Health Supply Chains is an area very close to my heart. It is how I started my career in the development world exactly now ten years ago. Events like these allow me to talk about this area I have a deep passion for and to interact with brilliant colleagues in the space who I have worked and grown with over the years including Harrison Mariki and Nabila Hemed who were also both present at the event and shared their knowledge and experience with the youth as well. Interestingly we also together work on the International Association of Public Health Logisticians Tanzania Chapter. I also got the pleasure of interacting with Joseph Paul, MD who is doing some amazing work with Dawa Mkononi set to revolutionize private sector health supply chains in the country and Tumaini Makole who is also playing a strong role in the pharmaceutical space in Tanzania. Being able to inspire young students along with such amazing colleagues to get into this supply chain space continues to be very exciting for me.

While there were a lot of good presentations and discussions during the symposium I would to use this article to share some key insights that I personally shared during the panel discussion:

• Supply chains are an important pillar of health systems and are essential for all themes related to health that are being discussed in today's times - Antimicrobial Resistance, Pandemic Preparedness, Universal Health Coverage etc. We must also think about health supply chains beyond just pharmaceuticals and also consider vaccines, medical equipment, diagnostics etc.
• Medical and Pharmaceutical Supply Chains remain to be a big opportunity especially on the continent of #Africa. From domestic production to using digital technologies to improve supply chains especially at the last mile - there is a lot of work to be done.
• We need to contextualize technology & especially innovation and think about what applies for Tanzania as a country. The solution to all challenges is not a new digital system or a mobile application. We also must use concepts such as human-centered design to especially understand what the communities need.
• We must think about public private partnerships and the integration of public and private sector supply chain data to have a holistic market intelligence approach to have a view of the health sector as a total market.
• Young people should be able to work together and form partnerships and synergies. We definitely have a challenge with "Founder's Syndrome" that must be avoided in order to have a better impact.
• Use of technology and innovation in the health sector is different from other sectors. There are more policies, guidelines, processes etc. that must be considered because of the direct impact on the lives of people. The nuances of health products and services must be understood and adhered to.
• For the same reason as above, we also need more health professionals in the medical and pharmaceutical supply chain space so that they are able to understand that health supply chains are different from other products.
• We must think about scale when it comes to technology and innovations. Young people venturing into this space need the right business and financial management skills and must have viable business models in place so that sustainability can be ensured.
• Innovation and technology can be a double-edged sword and if not implemented well can lead to an increase in inequities rather than bridging the gap.

Congratulations to the team of dynamic young health students and professionals including David Muhunzi , Hamisi Msagama and Jafary Hassan for organizing such events. I look forward to more of them and to continuously hear young voices in these health spaces.