Consultant: Logistics Management Information System

Purpose of the Consultancy

The rationale of this position is to provide technical support in advancing the performance of health services delivery by the designing, planning, organization, and execution of the National Medical Supply Chain (NMSC) assessment by the WHO Syria Country office including LMIS through developing key recommendations, actions, and a roadmap.

The consultancy is aimed specifically to provide high-level strategic support to the targeted review of the NMSC covering functional processes, network design, warehousing and distribution and LMIS. This high-level strategic support includes supply chain (SC) workflow, data & records, development of the review tools, training of the national/external reviewers, oversight of the fieldwork/data collection and analysis, review the draft national strategy for the supply chain management, coordination with health partners through the health sector meeting to propose specific action points on behalf of partners, draft an action plan and conduct a joint workshop with MOH to present the action plan and final report. The review and assessment findings will serve as a baseline for strengthening the medical supply chain that promotes access to quality-ensured medical products within the context of achieving Universal Health Coverage, identify the gaps & challenges, and share recommendations for improvement. Also, will serve in shaping and strengthening an agile MANUAL LMIS in preparation to transforming it into a computerized one.

Background

A well-performing pharmaceutical supply chain system should ensure that: a) health supplies are available and accessible to all end-users, b) it does it efficiently through optimal use of limited resources, and c) the national capacities are developed to sustain the achievements. Fragmented procurement and supply management practices in countries are often causing inefficient processes that result in higher prices, interruption in supply and wastage of resources.

Syria produces 90% of its medicines itself. The sector is subsidised by the government, resulting in high quality and low prices. The department which is responsible for the medicine procurement (General Foreign Trade Organization, GFTO), is the supplier unit in the (Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade, MoE&FT). The procurement process is partially centralized. However, due to the crisis in 2012 the pharmaceuticals sector in Syria faces huge challenges that lead to the shortages of essential medicines.

The aim of this consultancy is to give support to establish sustainable and resilient supply chains in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and with principal recipients in many countries as well as in Syria.

The movement of medical supplies from sources of supply through the Central Medical Stores (CMS), the service delivery points and finally to the end-users involves a complex linkage of transporters, service providers and resources. Logistics management is therefore a critical part of supply system, involving storage, transport and distribution of medical supplies to service delivery points. Data and information are the backbone of any logistics and supply chain system as it enables managers to make and take informed decisions to adequately plan, execute and deploy resources in an efficient and cost-effective manner. In order to ensure the health supply chain is responsive, agile and meets the expectations of the sector, it is imperative to have robust information system which guarantees the efficient collection, storage and transmission of accurate data across the supply chain, for decision making.

Currently the LMIS recording and reporting is fragmented and ineffective with erratic ordering and response time with different unreliable reporting lines causing the national supply chain experience symptoms of poor logistics system performance, such as stockouts, overstocks, and expiries. The LMIS system is not fully applied as to inform operation of an efficient supply chain. This observation shows that there is no integrate data collection and information sharing for supply chain services. This is critical for an effective supply chain, particularly when set against the fact that Syrian MoH is planning to transition to an electronic real- time data collection, processing and sharing application in the supply chain.

This ToR has been published in accordance with the aforesaid aim of the WHO, to provide targeted Supply Chain transformational recommendations following the assessment of the national supply chain with focus on 3 functional areas; network design, warehousing and distribution and LMIS. These areas are key to evolve the systems in place to achieve better monitoring and managing of pharmaceutical supply chain activities effectively & efficiently thus improve product availability and ensure an uninterrupted supply of essential medicines resulting in a better health outcomes.

Overall project objective:

1. Recommend areas of improvement or propose an alternative design option/s to the current medical supply chain pipeline as well as a system for medical products storage, distribution, and network, by:

• Evaluating and analysing the structure and functionality of the current medical supply chain pipeline.
• Reviewing the warehousing and distribution functions.

2. Propose improvement to refine the current LMIS system that will function as the driving engine of the public Health Supply Chain system, keeping in view the near future plans of transforming into an e-LMIS:

• Review the current LMIS in terms of infrastructure and efficiency,
• Reviewing knowledge, skills and capability of staff to undertake data and information processing to support reporting, and decision-making.

3. Provide key recommendations, areas of improvement, and roadmap for Syria stakeholders; for optimizing their medical supply chain management, including options for integrating (resource sharing) of medical products and similar public health commodities.

Work to Be Performed

Output:

A comprehensive review of the National Medical Supply Chain (NMSC) covering functional processes; network design, warehousing and distribution and LMIS is planned, organized, and implemented according to the WHO guidelines and international best practices with the support of the collaboration with national reviewers including the requirements and recommendations of the Logistic Management Information System.

Deliverable 1.0:

• Develop a work plan for conducting the review with the timetable.
• Conduct a desk review of any previous assessments or reviews, National Supply Chain Strategy (NSCS), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and other related documents and policies to understand bottlenecks and root causes.
• Conduct interviews with in-country stakeholders.
• Develop key recommendations, areas of improvement, and roadmap for Syria stakeholders; for optimizing their medical supply chain management, including options for integrating (resource sharing) of medical products and similar public health commodities.
• Develop tools for data collection, measuring performance including indicators, and methodology.
• Build the capacity of national team and/or external reviewers on data collection tool
• Select the governorates, districts, health facilities, and warehouses in line with the permitted length of this consultancy.
• Conduct field visits and collect data.

Deliverable 2.0: Narrative summary report and strategic analysis of the findings of the field visits and the proposed action plan to be delivered through a joint workshop with MOH

• Develop a summary account of the field visits to all locations in Syria and build consensus with the senior management of the MoH, GFTO, and international partners (i.e. meet and interview key national policymakers and stakeholders), on important findings and recommendations.
• Prepare a summary of the strategic analysis of the NMSC activities in addressing the pharmaceutical supply chain challenges and gaps in Syria based on interviews and discussions with stakeholders and existing data.
• Conduct a joint workshop with MOH to present the action plan.

Deliverable 3.0: Submit a NMSC final review report that includes:

• Executive summary
• Narrative report on the findings
• Analytical report on the findings and key recommendations to cover the identified gaps during of the field visits.
• Strategic account of the main strengths, challenges and lessons learned from the available documents and stakeholders’ feedback
• Recommendations on strengthening NMSC management and areas of improvement.

Specific Requirements

Qualifications required:

• Essential:
  • An advanced university Degree (Master’s degree) in Pharmacy or other related medical field, Industrial Engineering, logistic, Supply Chain, business administration, Computer Science, and other related areas.
• Desirable:
  • Master’s Degree in public health or supply chain or MBA
  • Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) by APICS
  • Certified Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR-P) by APICS
  • Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution (CLTD) by APICS
  • Certificate in Procurement and Supply Operations by Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS)

Experience required:

• Over 10 years’ experience in Supply Chain Management
• Previous practical experience with Supply Chain Assessment, preferable with the Medical SC Assessment; at national level or in large scale.
• Good knowledge of the national (Syria) medical SC management and its context.
• Knowledge of the national rules and legislations in the medical supply chain.
• Experience with WHO or UN organizations is preferable
• Previous experience with writing analytical reports, and adopting policies & SOP

Skills:

• Technical skills and knowledge: High level of expertise in Supply Chain Management.
• High-level communication and interpersonal skills.
• The ability to work under pressure and with limited resources
• Good report writing skills in English
• Strong organizational skills
• Proficient in computer applications, especially with Microsoft Office
• Sound knowledge of WHO mandate and goals in emergency response relief
• Familiarity with national context
• Excellent analytical and strategic planning skills

Language Requirements:

• Excellent command of English and ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Preferable to communicate in the Arabic language.​​​​​​​

Place of Assignment

Field visits in Syria

Medical Clearance:

The selected consultant is expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

Travel

Travel to provide training, oversee the field work, and provide debriefing to the WR and the key national policymakers (MoH) and stakeholders.

Additional Information:

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
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