IIT Madras and Krea University’s study suggests measures to boost medical supplies

The findings of a study, jointly conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and Krea University in Chennai, on the drug delivery system in some of the more populated Indian states may help boost medical deliveries, the institute said in a statement.

The study showed that fill rates – the percentage of customer orders a company can fulfil without running out of inventory – of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha, and Punjab could potentially rise to 53% as compared to the average fill rate of 30.95% if certain timely measures for addressing medicine shortage were taken.

Essential medicine procurement in the Indian public health system is undertaken by the state-level medical service corporations (MSC). Some states, such as Kerala, follow a centralised system, while others like Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Odisha follow a decentralised system.

The study found that despite the operational, logistic, and infrastructural challenges that exist in the current drug supply system, several measures can be taken by state governments to considerably ease the system and address medicine shortage, IIT Madras’ statement further added.

The research focused on issues that are identified in the procurement process of essential medicines. The medicine procurement data and contract information from the four states were central to this study.

The study was conducted by RP Sundarraj, department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, and Vijaya C Subramanian, department of Operations Management, IFMR-GSB, Krea University. It was published recently in the peer-reviewed journal, Social Science and Medicine.

“Essential medicine is a key issue affecting health outcomes. This is especially an issue in low-and-middle-income countries. The Indian government recognises this and has enabled the import and production of APIs and KSMs for the manufacture of such medicines,” said Sundarraj.

This research was conducted in the aforementioned four states from 2015 to 2019. Elaborating how the study was conducted using field data, Sundarraj said, “We were fortunate to have the active support of a key policy maker who could point us to the right data sources.”

Highlighting how such studies and partnerships with state governments can address medicine shortage in India, Subramanian said, “This work is an attempt to bridge the gap between research and policy. The current pandemic has brought into focus the urgent need to address the deficiencies in healthcare delivery. We strongly believe that collaborations between policy makers and researchers can contribute to immense improvements in the current system.”