Assessment of Health Supply Chain Resilience and its Challenges during Ongoing Conflict in the Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia, 2024

Abstract

Background: International conflicts create significant challenges for healthcare facilities, particularly in the supply systems. Ongoing conflicts disrupt essential medical services and strain infrastructure, as seen in Ethiopia’s Amhara region. Understanding the resilience of healthcare supply chains and the challenges they face is vital for developing strategies to mitigate the impacts of conflict on healthcare delivery. Objective: The purpose of this study is to provide light on the supply chain’s resilience, challenges, and associated variables during the continued conflict in the Amhara region in 2024. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design with convenience and purposive sampling to gather data from 192 participants. Data collection involved both questionnaires and interviews. The analysis included descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression, and deductive frame analysis for both quantitative and qualitative insights. The findings were enriched with relevant secondary sources, and the analysis was conducted using SPSS software version 25. Results: The healthcare supply chain achieved a score of 54.7%. Training (B= 0.155, CI = 95% 0.002, 0.49, p value = 0.049), supervision (B= 0.39, CI = 95% 0.018, 0.45), vehicle availability, and coordination (B= 0.74, CI = 95% 0.019, 0.611.1, p value = 0.049) were significantly linked to the resilience of the healthcare supply chain. The study showed that while the healthcare supply chain addresses issues such as risk assessment, security, and situational awareness, it also encounters challenges such as long lead times, traceability, poor coordination, and limited information technology. Conclusion and recommendations: Most respondents viewed the resilience of the healthcare supply chain as good. The findings showed that training, supervision, vehicles, and coordination were key factors affecting the occurrence of slippery road crashes. To strengthen the resilience of healthcare supply chains in conflict-affected areas such as the Amhara region, several recommendations can be made: offering training in logistics and emergency response, promoting collaboration among stakeholders, utilizing technological investments to enhance infrastructure and adopt adaptable technologies, and creating metrics to monitor health supply chain resilience