Improving timeliness in the neglected tropical diseases preventive chemotherapy donation supply chain through information sharing: A retrospective empirical analysis

Background Billions of doses of medicines are donated for mass drug administrations in support of the World Health Organization’s “Roadmap to Implementation,” which aims to control, eliminate, and eradicate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). The supply chain to deliver these medicines is complex, with fragmented data systems and limited visibility on performance. This study empirically evaluates the impact of an online supply chain performance measurement system, “NTDeliver,” providing understanding of the value of information sharing towards the success of global health programs. Methods Retrospective secondary data was extracted from NTDeliver, which included 1,484 shipments for four critical medicines ordered by over 100 countries between February 28, 2006 and December 31, 2018. We applied statistical regression models to analyze the impact on key performance metrics, comparing data before and after the system was implemented. Findings The results suggest information sharing has a positive impact on three performance indicators: purchase order timeliness (β=1.01, p<0.000), arrival timeliness (β=0.53, p=0.09), and—most importantly—delivery timeliness (β=0.73, p=0.03). Three variables indicated an increased positive impact when the data is publicly shared: shipment timeliness (β=2.57, p=0.001), arrival timeliness (β=2.88, p=0·003), and delivery timeliness (β=2.82, p=0.01). Conclusions Our findings suggest that information sharing between the NTD program partners can help drive improved performance in the supply chain, and even more so when data is shared publicly. Given the large volume of medicine and the significant number of people requiring these medicines, information sharing has the potential to provide improvements to global health programs affecting the health of tens to hundreds of millions of people Author Summary The supply chain to deliver donated preventive chemotherapy medicines is complex due to the many stakeholders and partnerships participating, as well as challenging because the logistics are further complicated by delivery to remote destinations in developing countries. As MDA campaigns involve treating hundreds of thousands to millions of patients in endemic regions within entire countries over the course of days or weeks, close coordination and timing of medicine delivery is critical. Inefficiencies caused by fragmented data systems and limited transparency on supply chain performance further challenges the ability to identify shipment issues and explore the root cause of the issues. Prior to 2016, delivery was performing below standards, lagging as much as 40% below the WHO target of 80% on-time delivery. These delays result in wasted medicine donations, increased program costs, delayed MDAs, or sometimes even completely missed MDAs. In September 2016, an online supply chain performance measurement system, “NTDeliver,” was launched by the NTD Supply Chain Forum (a public-private partnership focused on managing and improving the PC donation supply chain) to enhance supply chain performance and information transparency. Our findings suggest that information sharing through NTDeliver is positively associated with performance at several key stages in NTD supply chain and that information sharing has more substantial positive impact on performance when the information is made publicly accessible, focused towards country program managers. The study findings support investment in supply chain systems and commitment to data transparency, in the context of a growing focus on supply chain investment in NTD programs.