Report of a workshop to launch the Global Oversight Committee and the Supply Chain Technical Support Mechanism for neglected tropical diseases: Geneva, Switzerland, 18-19 January 2024

Overview

For years, there have been challenges in the donation processes for health products for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Unsuccessful attempts have been made to resolve them. At a series of meetings held at the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in April–June 2023 – in conjunction with the functional review of the Global NTD Programme (WHO/NTD) – many issues were raised by key NTD medicine donation stakeholders. Challenges related to the process for ordering donated medicines and their supply chain management have resulted in wastages of medicines, inefficient production (stock-outs and overstocks, increasing programme costs and subsequent delays in delivering medicines to countries on time for mass drug administration (MDA) campaigns. There is broad agreement that unless these issues are addressed, serious and growing risks to existing and future progress against NTDs will persist.

Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall (Director, WHO/NTD) has committed to ensuring that WHO will prioritize addressing these weaknesses in the system. He has tasked members of WHO/NTD to work with partners to create a Global Oversight Committee for improved coordination, multi-stakeholder decision-making, accountability and transparency. A draft concept note for the Committee was developed based on the discussions at the April–June 2023 meetings and refined through subsequentconsultations with stakeholders.

In addition to the Global Oversight Committee (GOC), a new Supply Chain Technical Support Mechanism (SCTSM) is being established to provide technical assistance for strengthening the supply chain in support of NTD programmes in eight priority countries in the WHO African Region, where the disease burden is greatest and where supply chain challenges have previously existed.

SCTSM is a 5-year project (November 2023 to October 2028) funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). It will collaborate with national NTD programmes, the three levels of WHO (country offices, regional offices and headquarters) as well as with manufacturers and funding and implementation partners to improve NTD supply chains in Africa, focused initially on eight priority countries. SCTSM will report to GOC. By aligning with industry best practices for supply and demand management, SCTSM aims to support delivery of the NTD road map 2021–2030, address supply chain bottlenecks and ensure timely availability and reduced wastage of donated medicines within NTD programmes in the countries it supports.

The purpose of the meeting was to:

• convene key stakeholders to co-design GOC; and
• introduce and launch SCTSM.

Its objectives were to:

• review and build consensus on the terms of reference for GOC;
• develop priority short-and long-term actions;
• launch SCTSM and clarify how it will support and interact with GOC;
• clarify the objectives and approach of SCTSM;
• gather inputs on country collaborative scoping and planning methodologies, and enable multi-stakeholder decision-making processes built on accountability and transparency in the medicine forecasting approach; and
• identify opportunities for collaboration and coordination.