by Dr. Thierno Seydou Nourou Guèye, Pharmacie Régionale d’Approvisionnement de Saint-Louis; Madjiguène Ndiaye Coulibaly, SNEIPS*; Ibrahima Leye, consultant
A project in Senegal that uses a specially equipped truck to transport vaccine supplies has proven so successful that it is now being expanded to transport other health products.
First deployed in March 2011, the “moving warehouse” regularly transports vaccines from regional stores directly to over 100 health centres and posts throughout Senegal’s Saint-Louis region. This means that vaccines no longer need to be stored in district warehouses and that health centre staff no longer need to collect the vaccines they require from the district store each month—saving them many long and often arduous journeys.
Each month, the truck embarks on three separate delivery circuits. The first circuit covers the districts of Saint-Louis and Richard Toll and can take up to two days. The second, to Dagana district, takes three days. During both circuits, vaccines are stored in a 170-liter Aircontainer Bigbox storage container that can keep vaccines cool for up to four days.
The third circuit covers the more remote districts of Podor and Pete, and can take up to a week. In addition to the Bigbox storage container, a Dometic RCW 4 vaccine carrier is also used to keep vaccines within the correct temperature range of 2°C to 8°C. To be sure that the cold chain is maintained throughout the journey, the truck is equipped with Libero temperature monitors and LogTag® data recorders to constantly monitor vaccine temperatures.
The moving warehouse truck is equipped with a computer and a wireless Internet connection, enabling staff to access and update information on vaccine stock in the country’s new logistics management information system (LMIS) and share data with district management teams and regional and national storage facilities.
With each monthly delivery, moving warehouse staff record in the LMIS the health centre’s current vaccine stock levels as well as the number of vaccines the health centre distributed the previous month. They then top up the health centre’s vaccine stock to the required level. By regularly monitoring vaccine stock levels in this way, accurate forecasts can be made for future stock requirements, minimizing overstocking and reducing the likelihood of stockouts.
The moving warehouse has brought other benefits. By accompanying the truck on its delivery circuits, district and regional officers can now visit health centres and posts to provide regular supervision and training to health staff. At each stop, the moving warehouse team also collects safety boxes filled with used syringes, which are then returned to the district stores for safe disposal.
Other health providers in Senegal have been quick to take advantage of the benefits that the moving warehouse can bring to their own supply chains. In Saint-Louis, the moving warehouse already delivers the vaccines required by Senegal’s measles and polio campaigns and will do the same for the country’s next meningitis campaign.
Plans are afoot to leverage the power of the moving warehouse still further. In March 2012, the moving warehouse took responsibility for delivering reproductive health products—formerly distributed by the Division of Reproductive Health in an entirely separate supply chain—to every district of Saint-Louis. And in June 2012, after agreement with the Senegalese Ministry of Health, the moving warehouse began delivering malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS-control drugs to the district. Nongovernmental organizations such as the Micronutrient Initiative also hope that the moving warehouse will be able to support their own supply chain challenges in the future.
Other Senegalese regions are taking note of this Saint-Louis success story. The three neighbouring regions of Saint-Louis—Louga, Diourbel, and Matam—are all making plans to establish their own moving warehouses. In Senegal, the moving warehouse is truly on the move.
For more information on the moving warehouse in Senegal, please email[[email protected]]Ibrahima Leye[/email].
For more information on the moving warehouse in Senegal, please email [[email protected]]Dr. Thierno Seydou Nourou Guèye[/email] and [[email protected]]Madjiguene Ndiaye Coulibaly[/email].
*SNEIPS is also known as the Service National de l’Education et de l’Information pour la Santé. In English this means the National Service of Education and Information for Health.
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With each monthly delivery, moving warehouse staff record in the LMIS the health centre’s current vaccine stock levels as well as the number of vaccines the health centre distributed the previous month. They then top up the health centre’s vaccine stock to the required level. By regularly monitoring vaccine stock levels in this way, accurate forecasts can be made for future stock requirements, minimizing overstocking and reducing the likelihood of stockouts.
The moving warehouse has brought other benefits. By accompanying the truck on its delivery circuits, district and regional officers can now visit health centres and posts to provide regular supervision and training to health staff. At each stop, the moving warehouse team also collects safety boxes filled with used syringes, which are then returned to the district stores for safe disposal.
Other health providers in Senegal have been quick to take advantage of the benefits that the moving warehouse can bring to their own supply chains. In Saint-Louis, the moving warehouse already delivers the vaccines required by Senegal’s measles and polio campaigns and will do the same for the country’s next meningitis campaign.
Plans are afoot to leverage the power of the moving warehouse still further. In March 2012, the moving warehouse took responsibility for delivering reproductive health products—formerly distributed by the Division of Reproductive Health in an entirely separate supply chain—to every district of Saint-Louis. And in June 2012, after agreement with the Senegalese Ministry of Health, the moving warehouse began delivering malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS-control drugs to the district. Nongovernmental organizations such as the Micronutrient Initiative also hope that the moving warehouse will be able to support their own supply chain challenges in the future.
Other Senegalese regions are taking note of this Saint-Louis success story. The three neighbouring regions of Saint-Louis—Louga, Diourbel, and Matam—are all making plans to establish their own moving warehouses. In Senegal, the moving warehouse is truly on the move.
For more information on the moving warehouse in Senegal, please email[[email protected]]Ibrahima Leye[/email].
For more information on the moving warehouse in Senegal, please email [[email protected]]Dr. Thierno Seydou Nourou Guèye[/email] and [[email protected]]Madjiguene Ndiaye Coulibaly[/email].
*SNEIPS is also known as the Service National de l’Education et de l’Information pour la Santé. In English this means the National Service of Education and Information for Health.
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