Reorganizing Nigeria’s Vaccine Supply Chain Reduces Need For Additional Storage Facilities, But More Storage Is Required
- Ekundayo Shittu is an assistant professor of systems engineering and engineering management at the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.
- Melissa Harnly is a lieutenant commander in the Medical Service Corps, US Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, in Falls Church, Virginia. At the time this article was written, she was assigned to the LMI Research Institute in a one-year “duty under instruction” capacity.
- Shanta Whitaker is a consultant in the Health Management Division at the LMI Research Institute, in Tysons, Virginia.
- Roger Miller ( [email protected] ) is a senior consultant in the Health Management Division at the LMI Research Institute.
Abstract
One of the major problems facing Nigeria’s vaccine supply chain is the lack of adequate vaccine storage facilities. Despite the introduction of solar-powered refrigerators and the use of new tools to monitor supply levels, this problem persists. Using data on vaccine supply for 2011–14 from Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency, we created a simulation model to explore the effects of variance in supply and demand on storage capacity requirements. We focused on the segment of the supply chain that moves vaccines inside Nigeria. Our findings suggest that 55 percent more vaccine storage capacity is needed than is currently available. We found that reorganizing the supply chain as proposed by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency could reduce that need to 30 percent more storage. Storage requirements varied by region of the country and vaccine type. The Nigerian government may want to consider the differences in storage requirements by region and vaccine type in its proposed reorganization efforts.
