In BIs research projects on health supply chains, supported by the Research Council of Norway, BI Norwegian Business School, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, INSEAD Business School, Lancaster University, Rotterdam School of Management, Jimma University, Institute of Health and St.Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical Colleges, both Ethiopia, will conduct case studies and systems modelling to understand today’s medicine, vaccine and health commodity supply chains.
Pharmaceutical and health commodity supply chains are complex and global. Opaque and vulnerable networks connect large numbers of manufacturers, buyers and end users. When these supply chains break down it can lead to serious injury and death. The research projects MIA (Measures for Improved Availability of medicines and vaccines) and COVID-19 Supply Chain Research Group, address these issues and take a system-wide approach to understanding medicine, vaccine and health commodity. By building a comprehensive model of the networks, the research team will be able to compare different methods of supply chain preparedness to see what works best under different circumstances. The aim is to design supply chains that function as intended both under normal conditions and in crises.
The projects will contribute to this by providing decision makers and others with better knowledge about how pharmaceutical and health commodity supply chains work. The initial focus is on Norway, the United Kingdom, Europe and Ethiopia. In a later phase, they will share knowledge with other countries facing similar challenges.
The MIA project is set to run for 4 years, and has been granted NOK 12 million by the Helsevel-program, while the COVID-project will run for 2 years with funding from GLOBVAC, both RCN programs.
