APPROACH
PATH and Novo Nordisk commit to reducing preventable morbidity and mortality by addressing the availability of affordable essential medicines and technologies for diabetes in low- and middle-income countries. This partnership will address the current barriers in the procurement and supply of essential diabetes medicines and technologies, with the aim of contributing to the WHO target of achieving 80% availability of essential medicines in both public and private facilities (Global Action Plan for NCDs).
The project will run until December 2015 with an initial focus on diabetes. In the future, they envision broadening their scope to include other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The project includes a global landscape report describing the current supplies security environment for diabetes essential medicines and technologies, lessons learned from other areas of global health, and the gaps in the existing literature. This global report will be followed by in-country supply assessments in Nigeria and Kenya. PATH and Novo Nordisk bring complementary assets and expertise to this partnership. As the lead implementing partner, PATH brings extensive technical experience in diabetes, global supply chains, and global advocacy. PATH will also leverage its in-country networks and experience with successfully ensuring access to essential medicines in other areas of global health such as HIV, TB, vaccines, and reproductive health. Novo Nordisk will provide technical and strategic input to this partnership by leveraging their significant diabetes and advocacy expertise and commitment to sustainable diabetes care. Both partners are committed to advancing the shared objective of improving access to care in low-resource settings.
ACTION PLAN
The PATH-Novo Nordisk project will be implemented over 18 months at the global level and country level in Kenya and Nigeria.
In the first phase of the project, the focus will be on developing detailed assessments at the global level of the supply of essential diabetes medicines and technologies. This assessment will include the global barriers to access and identify potential solutions. The findings from this assessment will be disseminated to key global and country stakeholders to raise awareness.
In the second phase of the project, the focus will be on developing detailed assessments at the country level in both Kenya and Nigeria. The process will follow a similar methodology to identify barriers to access, identify potential solutions, and raise awareness with key stakeholders.
Deliverables will include:
Q3/14-Q4/15: Global advisory group established; remains active throughout the life of the program
Q3/14: Global literature review and stakeholder interviews initiated and completed
Q4/14: Global landscape report completed
Q1/15-Q3/15: In country assessments for Kenya and Nigeria completed
Q3/15: Analysis and consultation completed, Report written and finalized
Q1/15-Q4/15: Establish opportunities for peer review and dissemination of findings
Q4/15: Dissemination and communication of report at appropriate events and fora.
(For example: World Diabetes Congress roundtable/symposia)
Q4/14 and Q4/15: Interim progress report completed
Q4/15: Final progress report completed
In 2013, 382 million people worldwide were estimated to be living with diabetes, 80% of which were in low- and middle-income settings (International Diabetes Federation). The population of people with diabetes is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years to 592 million by 2035 (International Diabetes Federation). Compounding this problem, the current systems for and approaches to procurement and supply of essential diabetes medicines and technologies are not meeting the existing need and must be substantially strengthened to keep up to increasing demand. In 36 low- and middle-income countries, essential medicines for chronic diseases are only available in an average of 36% of public-sector health facilities and 55% of those in the private sector (Cameron et al., The Lancet, 2009).
The World Health Organization has highlighted the need for global supply security for essential medicines and technologies for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in its Global Action Plan (GAP) for NCDs. Achieving 80% availability of these commodities in both public and private facilities by 2020 is now an established global target.
Despite this global awareness, significant challenges remain to making quality NCD supplies consistently available to a growing population of people living with NCDs. Furthermore, there is an inadequate understanding of the root causes of those challenges as well as a lack of concerted action to address them.
