The World Health Organization (WHO), together with health ministries, pharmaceutical donors, implementing partners and technical support platforms, convened three major back-to-back meetings in Geneva on 23–26 September 2025.
The meetings – the NTD Supply Chain Forum (NTD-SCF), the Supply Chain Technical Support Mechanism (SCTSM) and the Global Coordination and Stewardship Committee (GCSC) – brought together over 150 global and national stakeholders to strengthen coordination and stewardship on supply chains for neglected tropical disease (NTD) medicines. Key discussions focused on improving medicine forecasting, ensuring smooth logistics, securing sustainable financing and tracking last-mile delivery to ensure that health products reach those in need.
The gatherings underscored WHO’s role in convening partners and advancing the 2030 NTD Road map targets, with focus on innovation, governance and country-led solutions to ensure timely access to safe, quality-assured medicines and improved accountability across programme delivery systems.
“The NTD partnership is one of the most remarkable in global health. Built on trust, accountability and collaboration, it brings together public and private actors in a way that is truly unique,” said Dr Daniel Ngamije Madandi, Director a.i., Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases, in his opening remarks. He invited participants “to set clear priorities, foster alignment across all mechanisms and show renewed determination.”
NTD Supply Chain Forum (23–24 September)
The annual NTD-SCF meeting gathered over 100 stakeholders, including health ministries, pharmaceutical donors, nongovernmental organizations, logistics providers and technical partners. The NTD-SCF reaffirmed its role as the global convening mechanism for supply chain collaboration and data-driven decision-making across NTD programmes. Discussions focused on the changing global health architecture, funding constraints, challenges and experiences on supply chain management and coordination, and WHO’s transformation.
Key highlights included:
- Innovation in forecasting and planning: NTDeliver platform enhancements, integration of Power BI dashboards and improvements in the Joint Application Package (JAP) process.
- Country ownership: India’s success in strengthening national-level supply chain processes demonstrated how data-led decision-making drives impact.
- Logistics and partner coordination: DHL’s Control Tower presented updates on shipment tracking, customs delays and backward planning tools.
- Governance alignment: WHO reaffirmed that global tools and platforms must be positioned as shared global resources, not limited to pilot settings.
Supply Chain Technical Support Mechanism (25 September)
The SCTSM annual meeting reviewed progress in strengthening country-level forecasting and supply planning. Case studies from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania highlighted both progress and persistent challenges.
Key outcomes included:
- Forecasting tools: refinement of the Multi-Year Forecasting (MYF) tool to include ivermectin prioritization, paediatric praziquantel and predictive signals for order timelines.
- Data quality: successful efforts to address persistent challenges in inventory reconciliation, with Ethiopia identifying and rectifying a 5 million tablet discrepancy through enhanced
- Capacity and sustainability:
- Integration with national systems: WHO and the Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN) emphasized the importance of aligning NTD processes with national SOPs and central medical stores, as well as exploration of AI-assisted data validation.
Action items included refining tools, improving reverse logistics, expanding peer exchanges beyond the initial eight pilot countries, and developing training videos and manuals.
Global Coordinating Supply Chain Committee (26 September)
The GCSC meeting, co-chaired by WHO and Merck, reaffirmed its mandate as the strategic oversight body for the coordination of the NTD global supply chain. More than 50 stakeholders reviewed progress against key performance indicators and aligned on governance, accountability and forecasting readiness.
Key discussions and outcomes included:
- Governance and accountability: the GCSC will continue to focus on identifying systemic risks –such as expiry of products and customs delays – while operational issues will be managed through bilateral or technical platforms. A case study from Uganda, where 3.3 million tablets expired, highlighted the urgency for clearer escalation protocols.
- Forecasting and JAP readiness: WHO committed to finalizing the MYF tool and training package by early 2026, while the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) will review the SCTSM forecasting model to support consistency across all NTD programmes.
- Coordination across platforms: to avoid duplication, GCSC emphasized that forecasting and planning tools should be positioned as global resources accessible to all countries.
- Country ownership: participants underscored the need for scalable, country-driven innovations and stronger visibility through platforms such as NTDeliver.
Action items included clarifying JAP approval steps, consolidating roles and responsibilities, and reinforcing systemic risk monitoring as part of ongoing GCSC oversight.
Looking ahead
The three meetings marked a significant step forward in strengthening global and regional coordination across NTD programmes. By aligning innovation, governance and country ownership, WHO and partners are building a more resilient and accountable system that links programme goals with supply chain priorities to ensure timely delivery of NTD medicines and sustained progress toward elimination goals.
With commitments to enhance forecasting tools, expand peer learning, clarify roles and responsibilities, and embed global platforms into national systems, WHO and its partners are advancing a unified, data-driven approach to programme delivery aligned with the 2030 NTD Road map.
Progress on these actions will be reviewed at the next coordination sessions in 2026 to maintain collaboration and accountability across the global NTD community.