TY - JOUR T1 - Moving Medicine, Moving Minds: Helping Developing Countries Overcome Barriers to Outsourcing Health Commodity Distribution to Boost Supply Chain Performance and Strengthen Health Systems JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT SP - 359 LP - 365 DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-16-00130 VL - 4 IS - 3 AU - Priya Agrawal AU - Iain Barton AU - Roberto Dal Bianco AU - Dana Hovig AU - David Sarley AU - Prashant Yadav Y1 - 2016/09/28 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/4/3/359.abstract N2 - Senegal and other developing countries are improving access to health commodities by outsourcing supply chain logistics to private providers. To achieve broader, lasting reform, we must support further adoption of the outsourced model; assist country-led cost-benefit analyses; and help governments build capacity to manage contracts and overcome other barriers.Until recently, women in Senegal who went to their local public health clinics seeking a means to prevent pregnancy had about a 3 or 4 in 5 chance of leaving empty-handed.1 Implants, pills, injectables, and other contraceptives, while promoted as part of Senegal’s commitment to improving maternal health and access to family planning, were routinely out of stock. The problem, all too common in developing nations, was improper supply chain management, specifically inventory management and delivery. To address this, the government of Senegal embarked on a major overhaul of its supply chain for 9 different contraceptives (with 2 more added later). Within 6 months, stock-outs ceased almost entirely.1,2Key in the success of Senegal’s reform was the government’s strong commitment to, and effective implementation of, hiring private third-party logistics providers (3PLs) to manage orders and handle deliveries from district warehouses to local health facilities, with clear benefits for service levels and costs. One analysis compared cost and service through the use of private operators versus those of government employees performing the same activity in a different region of the country. The analysis found that outsourcing decreased the proportion of facilities experiencing stock-outs from over 80% to less than 2%1 while reducing distribution costs by 36% annually.3By outsourcing supply chain logistics to private operators, Senegal decreased the proportion of facilities experiencing stock-outs from over 80% to less than 2%.These gains were achieved during a 3-year program supported by MSD for Mothers (known as Merck … ER -