Last year, global health experts Salient Advisory surveyed more than 80 companies in four African countries for a report focusing on the growth of the start of digitizing the continent's health supply chain and the distribution and regulatory framework governing e-pharmacy business. At this time, the company entered the African healthcare chain, expanding the scope of its research and making some tweaks. For one thing, it's looking for startups in 54 countries (from the last four years) and includes companies with vertical healthcare offerings. Looking at nearly 350 manufacturers across 27 countries, Salient Advisory's 2023 report found that public health supply chains across the continent are closed and large, leaving many Africans with no other choice but to obtain products from private health manufacturers. However, the problem is that private health care is divided from production to distribution, which affects price, availability, and quality (counterfeit and substandard products are more common in African open medicine than in global medicine, for example). As such, the report from Salient Advisory, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, requires that the manufacturers use the technology to digitize the online system and solve these problems.
“One thing you have to consider that has happened since the epidemic in Nigeria, and to some extent around the world, is the many shortages we have found in equipment such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). These issues existed because of gaps in healthcare supply chains,” Yomi Kazeem, chief engagement officer at Salient Advisory, said on a call with TechCrunch. "And so, in light of that, it's important to look at how health startups are using technology to try to improve supply chains on the continent to ensure that individuals in urban areas or in rural communities have better and safer access to health products." Salient Advisory's findings also show how African governments (around 11 from the research) are working with health supply chain innovators across nearly 50 partnerships, leveraging their technology solutions to address long-term issues related to the availability, accessibility, and quality of health products in public health supply chains. About half of the identified partnerships are to enable the government to organize and manage inventory to improve efficiency and reduce waste, showing the government's strong interest in adopting digital processes and inventory management solutions. In an interview with TechCrunch, Kazeem challenges the findings of Salient, considering the need for innovators to work with the government, these gaps will be filled despite the efforts that should be commended, providing different funding in the healthcare innovation process, as well as updating the investment in Innovation (I3) for startups led by women.
“One thing to consider that has happened since the pandemic in Nigeria, and globally to an extent, is several shortages we noticed in supplies like personal protective equipment (PPE). Those problems existed because of gaps in health supply chains,” Yomi Kazeem, engagement manager at Salient Advisory, said on a call with TechCrunch. “And so in light of that, it’s important to take a look at how health startups are using technology to try and improve supply chains on the continent to ensure that individuals in urban areas or in rural communities have better and safer access to health products.”
