Tutorial 2: Strengthening Vaccine Supply Chains with HERMES Modeling Software

Many of the world’s vaccine supply chains are broken and aren’t getting life-saving and life-improving vaccines to adults and children who need them, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Vaccine supply chains are complex systems. Stakeholders and decision-makers need to pay close attention to these systems in order to understand and address the bottlenecks, stock-outs, and vaccine wastage that routinely occur – primarily in areas with limited resources. HERMES 1.0 is a systems modeling software application that allows users to analyze the complexities of a vaccine supply chain. HERMES can provide insight as to how the supply chain is functioning and determine the potential impact of making changes to the system.

This presentation will demonstrate the importance of taking a systems approach to assess vaccine supply chain design and performance as well as new technologies. Using HERMES 1.0, we will apply these concepts to understanding the steps needed to build a vaccine supply chain simulation model. Specific topics covered during the talk include understanding the complexities of vaccine supply chains and how each component interacts with each other; identifying common vaccine supply chain system issues; assessing the critical measures of a vaccine supply chain’s “health”; and recognizing the benefits of modeling for assessing and strengthening the vaccine supply chain system. This session will provide a basic understanding of HERMES 1.0 and introduce them to supplemental resources (comprehensive tutorials and technical support) to facilitate in-country training and capacity building for vaccine supply chain systems modeling.

Presenters

Elizabeth Mitgang, MSc mitgang@jhu.edu +1410.502.2710

Patrick Wedlock, MSPH pwedloc1@jhu.edu +1410.502.3845

HERMES Logistics Team, Johns Hopkins University

Lead Investigator

Bruce Y. Lee, MD MBA, Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University brucelee@jhu.edu