Promising Practices in Capacity Development for Health Supply Chains in Resource-Constrained Countries.

Performance gaps in health supply chains in low- and middle-income countries contribute significantly to inefficiencies and underperformance of their health systems. Some significant factors hindering the performance of supply chains in low and middle-income countries include low human resource capacity and capability, weak structures for monitoring supply chain performance, weak in-service and pre-service training programs, chronic underfunding, lack of transparency and an overdependence on obsolete methods, like manual data gathering, record-keeping, and analyses. Although proven health supply chain strengthening techniques exist, the level of adoption of these practices has varied across countries, resulting in multiple capacity gaps and underperforming supply chains.

Measuring Zero-Dose Children: Reflections on Age Cohort Flexibilities for Targeted Immunization Surveys at the Local Level.

Zero-dose (ZD) children is a critical objective in global health, and it is at the heart of the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) strategy. Coverage for the first dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP1)-containing vaccine is the global operational indicator used to estimate ZD children. When surveys are used, DTP1 coverage estimates usually rely on information reported from caregivers of children aged 12-23 months.

National logistics working groups: A landscape analysis study.

Several countries have acknowledged the contributions made by national logistics working groups (NLWG) to ensure equitable access to the expanded program on immunization's (EPI) vaccines against preventable diseases. In order to provide key insights to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) supply chain hub - as well as other players, including national EPI - a landscape analysis study was conducted from September 2015 to February 2016. This is a cross-sectional survey taken by 43 countries that combines qualitative and quantitative approaches.