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WLF Announces Grant to Tropical Disease Foundation

The World Lung Foundation is pleased to announce a $38,500 grant to the Tropical Disease Foundation. Funds will be used to support an automated radio-based drug inventory system in the rural Philippines. The innovative system aims to improve the drug supply chain so that more individuals can benefit from a reliable supply of drugs.

Maintaining accurate drug inventories is essential to providing good quality of care and to saving precious funds. The World Lung Foundation grant to the Tropical Disease Foundation supports an innovative system to ensure the right amount of drugs get to the right place at the right time.
In the Philippines, most drug inventory systems are done manually. Errors occur, and as a result, local health facilities are often over or under-stocked. If there are too many drugs in a given site, then some may expire before they are distributed, wasting money and drugs. If there are too few drugs, then patients may not have access to the drugs they need. Frequent drug shortages may also discourage patients from returning to health care centers, as they do not trust that centers can meet their health needs.

The Tropical Disease Foundation radio-based drug inventory system is intended to streamline drug stocking by simplifying ordering, delivering, and warehousing of products, making it easier to track their location. The system decreases the number of wrong deliveries and lowers the risk of theft.

Evidence from throughout the world suggests that an automated system such as this one better serves patients and decreases costs. However, government hospitals and health care offices in the Philippines are not equipped with the required technology. The World Lung Foundation grant will help partners to obtain these technologies, ultimately improving supply chain performance, quality of care, and health outcomes.