The third edition of the PtD Global Indaba will be hosted in Kigali, Rwanda, in September 2025. The conference is the only international event dedicated to human resources for health supply chain management.

Following in the footsteps of the inaugural PtD Global Indaba, held in October 2022 in Lusaka, Zambia, and the second edition of the conference, held in Bangkok, Thailand in March 2024, the Indaba will return to Africa in 2025.

Intimate and dynamic

The first two editions attracted over 250 participants and in Bangkok these came from 60 different countries. In Rwanda you can expect to a more diverse crowd yet again; the conference will retain its intimacy and at the same time give you the opportunity to meet and interact with an ever-changing and evolving network of (HR) for supply chain management (SCM). professionals from government agencies, public and private sector health supply chain organisations, donor and multilateral organisations, professional associations, academic institutions, country registration bodies and non-governmental organisations.

Our aim is to expose you to new organisations, first-time donors and countries from regions you may be less than familiar with.

The origins of the Indaba

Twenty years ago, when the SARS outbreak exposed key fragilities in the global healthcare supply chain, pandemic preparedness became a key concern among practitioners. In 2023, following the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the same supply-chain fragilities remain. As we rebuild and develop our health systems we must ensure that health supply chains – and the people that run them – are better prepared and equipped to withstand future crises.

The People that Deliver (PtD) Global Indaba is a global conference dedicated to human resources HR for SCM. The people running health supply chains (SCs) – the SC workforce – are often overlooked but are so critical to health systems; the Global Indaba puts the spotlight on the essential role these workers play in providing populations access to health commodities and saving lives, and is aimed at supporting them.

There is growing consensus that health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) will only continue to improve if the capacity and skills of the health SC workforce are developed. Alongside this recognition is an understanding that investments will be needed to ensure that health systems are equipped to expand access to health supplies and services in both development and emergency contexts.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that the health workforce deficit stands at no less than 8 million in Asia and 6 million in Africa. At the same time, in many LMICs SCM is not professionalised: this means there is little recognition that technical skills are necessary to perform supply chain management tasks.

Professionalisation at its core

The PtD Global Indaba is a conference that centres on SCM professionalisation. Professionalisation means having the right qualifications and skills to perform supply chain roles.

The supply chain workforce, which counts pharmacists, logisticians, and warehouse and transport personnel among many others, is responsible for managing supply chains, including forecasting, procuring and monitoring the supply of health commodities. But often in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) those performing supply chain tasks have not been trained to do so. The PtD coalition, WHO and others posit that health outcomes in LMICs will only continue to improve if the capacity and skills of the health SC workforce are developed and this is supported by WHO and others.

PtD’s vision of a world in which health supply chain workforces are empowered and equipped to perform their roles will lead to improved health outcomes and ultimately, professionalisation of the health SC workforce is one of the missing pieces as we strive towards universal health coverage. What’s more, professionalisation, we think, helps to create a sense of identity and prestige for the supply chain profession, attracting and retaining staff. 

The objectives

The conference brings so many health supply chain partners together, offering a space for countries, donor agencies and other development partners – public and private – to present and share experiences and the knowledge generated in this area in recent years. It supports coordination among the various development players, capturing best practices and models, and identifying opportunities to leverage expertise.

Above all, through presentations, panel discussions, workshops and networking opportunities, the exchanges offered by the Global Indaba will help governments to plan, finance, develop, support and retain the national workforces needed for the effective, efficient and sustainable management of health supply chains.

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