The second edition of the People that Deliver (PtD) Global Indaba conference launched with aplomb today in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Global Indaba is the only conference to focus on human resources (HR) for health supply chain management and this year over 250 attendees have come together to share their solutions to transform health supply chains.
The cornerstone of global dialogue
Opening the conference, Niti Haetanurak, deputy director-general, Department of Disease Control, Thailand Ministry of Public Health said, “The PtD Global Indaba stands as a cornerstone in the global dialogue on human resources (HR) for procurement and health supply chain management.”
He added, “The presence of a proficient and effective workforce is paramount for overseeing the acquisition and distribution of healthcare products and services on a worldwide scale.’”
In his opening address, Ittichote Chuckpaiwong, vice president for Environment and Sustainable Development at Mahidol University said, “This conference serves as a beacon of knowledge and innovation, convening brilliant minds from across the globe to address critical issues shaping the future of supply chains.”
The Global Indaba is organised by People that Deliver (PtD), a coalition of 30 organisations united in their support for the development of a health supply chain workforce that is skilled, equipped and motivated to maximise health outcomes by improving access to health commodities.
Asia and Africa at the same table
As she welcomed attendees to the conference, PtD’s executive manager, Dominique Zwinkels, emphasised the significance of uniting so many different countries and constituencies, from donors and educational institutions to professional associations and private sector companies.
“This is what the Global Indaba is all about: bringing together so many from different contexts to come up with practical solutions to what are often mutual health supply chain workforce challenges,” she said.
“It’s important that we’re here in Southeast Asia, a region where public health systems are robust, but where the health supply chain workforce receives little attention from national governments, development and donor agencies, despite the need in many countries.”
Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa face many mutual challenges, such as fragmented supply chains and a lack of dedicated health supply chain management professionals. But uniting Africa and Asia in Thailand offers the unique potential for collaboration and exchange between country representatives and organisations from different continents that perhaps rarely cross paths.
Emergency preparedness, professionalisation and innovation
The first plenary panel discussion – Lessons learned to shape a post-pandemic workforce – on Wednesday 6 March will consider the status of health supply chains following the COVID-19 pandemic. Later the same day, another plenary panel discussion will delve into innovation and preparing the supply chain workforce for technological advances.
The third and final plenary panel on Thursday 7 March will focus on PtD’s central theme: professionalisation of the health supply chain workforce and how to capitalise on professionalisation’s snowballing momentum.
The Indaba impulse talks (similar to TED talks) will be showcased on days Thursday 7 and Friday 8 March and one newcomer to this year's edition of the Global Indaba is Career square, an area dedicated to showcasing the educational resources, courses and approaches that are available to help supply chain professionals carve a career in the health supply chain management profession.
An interactive session facilitated by the International Association of Public Health Logisticians (IAPHL), in the morning of day three, will bring participants together to discuss the future of the health supply chain workforce. This will be followed by an Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) workshop, led by Douglas Kent, which will impart practical steps to further develop the health supply chain workforce.
PtD is hosting the Global Indaba alongside Mahidol University’s Center for International Healthcare Logistics and Supply Chain (Health CLARE), the International Association of Public Health Logisticians (IAPHL), Management Sciences for Health (MSH), Pharmaceutical Systems Africa and Upavon Management. The conference takes place over three days between 6 and 8 March and is the place to hear about the latest health supply chain and human resources management solutions.
The conference is sponsored by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, DAI, the Association for Supply Chain Management, Chemonics, VillageReach, JSI, Johnson & Johnson and UNFPA.
Visit the Global Indaba website or read more about People that Deliver.
