Strong Supply Chains Transform Public Health: By ensuring the efficient and effective delivery of medicines and commodities, supply chains support healthy populations and regional health security

Abstract

Health commodity supply chains are a critical element of a well-functioning health system and a vital input to advancing national and regional health security goals. Health security is a key issue in Asia and the Pacific due to the region’s vulnerability to the threat of emerging communicable diseases, particularly zoonoses (diseases transmitted from animals), vector-borne diseases, and drug-resistant pathogens. This vulnerability has been demonstrated in recent years by outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome, avian influenza, and more recently pandemic influenza. The development of artemisinin-resistant malaria in remote areas in the Greater Mekong Subregion and the increasing spread of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis and other drug-resistant pathogens further highlight the threats posed by infectious diseases and the need to achieve a well-functioning medicines supply chain, particularly to achieve malaria elimination.