Logisticians are an essential arm of humanitarian supply chains, and they must understand the varying characteristics of essential commodities from nutritional items to medical commodities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the complexity of service delivery in medical supply chains is critical to ensure supplies move in good time to alleviate the effects on communities.

In September, 46 WFP staff from across East & Northern Africa (including Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi) participated in a virtual Pharma & Heath Supply chain course. The objective is to increase awareness of globally accepted medical supply chain procedures and good supply chain practices.

During this training, HELP Logistics emphasised the importance of stakeholder cohesion, close collaboration and effective communication between the National and Non-Governmental tiers of health supply chains for efficient preparedness and response before, during and after such emergencies of regional and global magnitude.