On October 24, 1972, the UN General Assembly instituted World Development Information Day, to draw people’s attention to development problems and the continuous need to strengthen international cooperation to solve them. One problem, medicine delivery and storage, is being addressed by leaders at the United Nations, thanks to a new initiative.
A program was launched this week to help improve the ability to safely deliver and procure medicines during humanitarian crises around the world. Humanitarians treating people affected by war and natural disasters are often faced with such challenges as searing heat, long distances and damaged infrastructure. Unfortunately in many cases tons of medicines are wasted due to improper handling.
Many medicines are perishable and should be delivered appropriately within a temperature-controlled supply chain used to ensure their quality. If not, they may no longer be usable by health staff, causing both a loss in human and economic terms.
Now, experienced logisticians and medical specialists will be trained through a distance learning course, conducted by the Fritz Institute and the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics. The aim of the course is to teach the participants to better handle the supply of vaccines and drugs to ensure that medicines will be delivered and administered more effectively to the people in need.
Photo by Dani Simmonds, from MorgueFile.com