COVID-19 pandemic
· Supply chain logistics
Tarik Jašarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), introduced Paul Molinaro, Chief of the Operations Support and Logistics, WHO Health Emergencies Programme.
In his briefing to the journalists, Mr. Molinaro said that over the last two years, WHO had built a small but agile unit to support operations in outbreaks; the unit had been very busy with Ebola response over the past two years. The crisis that had emerged since January 2020, particularly in the field of supply chain logistics, had shown the challenges on a global scale, including an unprecedented demand for certain items. This was especially the case for personal protective equipment (PPE); diagnostics, since test were just being created after genetic sequencing had been shared; and biomedical clinical equipment.
The challenges included the increased demand (a hundred or two hundred times the normal one), the shutdowns and the reduced manufacturing on the supply side, export controls and the gradual shutting down of the international air transport system. The UN Secretary-General had requested WHO to convene a task force to seek solutions to those issues.
In Geneva, UNICEF, WFP and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) had joined the Supply Chain Coordination Cell for COVID-19. The Cell operated on four principles: streamlined demand at the country level, to look at the highest priorities and coordinate response; collaborative procurement and approaching market together to give the UN a stronger voice; allocation processes based on vulnerabilities, gaps and critical needs; and creating a unified transport system.
Mr. Molinaro stressed the enormous challenges that other humanitarian operations experienced in the current context; UNICEF vaccine shipments, highly dependent on commercial cargo, had already been disrupted in April. If logistical constraints continued in May, this would most likely disrupt regular immunization activities as well as food supply chains.
Responding to questions, Mr. Molin aro said that in February this year, PPE markets had not been responsive to the needs. Many of the suppliers and manufacturers, based in China, had been affected by the spread of the coronavirus in Wuhan, which had slowed down the manufacturing process.
On tests, the 1.1 million units distributed so far had been delivered to 126 countries. Quantities per country were small, but the hope was to have enough tests in each country to identify the imported cases and clusters forming around them. This had been achieved with success; however, the spread in the transmission and the occurrence in the community transmission meant that the supply of tests had to be scaled up.
A number of partners in the consortium were working to determine where the next batch of tests would go. It was expected that in May, the number of distributed tests would increase five-fold, said Mr. Molinaro. The validated tests and essays that had been distributed originated from manufacturers in Germany, China, the United States and several European countries. The consortium, which negotiated on behalf of over 120 countries, had obtained a degree of preferential pricing.
Explaining the logistical and supply system, Mr. Molinaro said that the logistical centre in Africa was located in Accra, and the hope was to add Addis Ababa and Johannesburg as air hubs. The intention was also to increase humanitarian flights for personnel, too. WFP was in charge of the day-to-day management of the air hubs, he added. As for Latin America, a hub was in place in Panama. Acknowledging the initial difficulties in supplying countries in this part of the world, Mr. Molinaro said that the next allocation of PPE, tests and other supplies could be directed to Latin America, also given the rising number of COVID-19 cases there.
Existing vaccine distribution mechanisms could be used to effectively acquire and distribute COVID-19 vaccine, Mr. Molinaro said in response to a question about the consortium’s capacity to supply the future vaccine. On dead body management, there were no constraints on body bags, he said.
Elisabeth Byrs, for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), added that her agency was awaiting the starting date for the humanitarian air bridge from Geneva, Rome, Accra, Addis Ababa and other destinations. Additional information would be available at the end of the week, she said.
· The number of food insecure people in East and Horn of Africa to reach 41 million because of COVID-19
Elisabeth Byrs, for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), said that the spread of the coronavirus across East and Horn of Africa, where the situation was already dire, would have a massive impact because of weak economies, poor health infrastructure and other factors. Currently, 20 million people were food insecure in nine countries in the region: Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti and Eritrea. Over the next three months, the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 would most likely increase the number of food insecure people from 34 to 41 million. Nearly 17 million urban poor and 3.5 million refugees would depend on humanitarian aid for survival.
