Indicators of Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Assessment in Low and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review of the Literature Público

Abstract

Much of the total global burden of disease is attributable to diseases that are preventable or treatable using modern pharmaceutical drugs. Efficient and effective supply chains are critical to ensuring medicines are available when and where patients that need them, especially in low and middle-income countries where high costs may limit the supply of drugs. Pharmaceutical management has been studied for the past thirty years, but recent global initiatives have brought a surge of attention toward drug supply chains. This attention by a wide variety of parties may have created inconsistency and incoherence in the assessment of pharmaceutical supply chains, thereby limiting comparability and knowledge transfer between contexts. Reported here are the indicators employed by drug supply chain assessments in the peer-reviewed literature. This search included 90 studies in analysis. The most common indicator used was % drug availability, however inconsistency in its definition and interpretation limits comparability across studies. Indicators measuring drug procurement and distribution were less commonly used, and were largely unstandardized across studies. The results suggest that pharmaceutical management relies heavily on some indicators, while neglecting to measure other key factors affecting supply chains. Coordinated action and further study are required to address the gaps in the evaluation of pharmaceutical programs.

Table of Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................... 1

-Phases of Pharmaceutical Management............................................................... 2

-Supply Chain Definition ...................................................................................... 5

-Increasing Attention to Pharmaceutical Supply Chains .................................... 6

-Statement of Problem/Purpose ........................................................................ 7

Methods ........................................................................................................... 8

-Search Procedure ................................................................................8

-Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria ..............................................................8

-Data Abstraction/Analysis ................................................................10

Results ...........................................................................................................11

-Indicators of Overall Supply Chain ...........................................................13

-Indicators of Procurement .........................................................................15

-Indicators of Distribution ..........................................................................16

Discussion ..............................................................................................................18

Conclusion ..............................................................................................................24

References ..............................................................................................................26

Appendix A: Summary of Search Terms Used ......................................................29

Appendix B: Full Citation List of Included Articles ..............................................30

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Hubert Department of Global Health
Degree	MPH
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Public Health Health Sciences, Pharmacy Health Sciences, Health Care Management
Palavra-chave	Medicines Supply Chain Health Systems
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	McFarland, Deborah A, Emory University
Partnering Agencies	Does not apply (no collaborating organization)

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