Infrastructure and Supply Chain Improvement is a key component of Integrate Health’s Integrated Primary Care Program. Integrate Health works with a range of partners to transform public health clinics into buildings that match the quality of health care received inside. Not only is it important that patients be able to access care in comfortable, hygienic, and well-equipped spaces, but they must also have confidence that the health center can provide the care they need, which includes medications and necessary equipment. Abdouldaziz Alhousseni (Aziz), logistics manager, is responsible for ensuring that the logistics of the supply chain is efficient and that the health centers and providers have what they need to provide high-quality care.
As Logistics Manager, Aziz is responsible for coordinating all procurement of materials, medications, and supplies from distribution and transportation to when they reach health centers. Each month, Integrate Health-supported health centers submit order forms for medications and supplies to the National Pharmaceutical Supply Center. Aziz oversees this process and works with the National Pharmaceutical Supply Center to ensure that those orders are filled. From there, Aziz coordinates the delivery schedule with the vehicle fleet to ensure medication and supplies always arrive on time.
In addition to managing supply chain logistics, Aziz oversees the distribution of donations. For example, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aziz has worked on the distribution of materials from the COVID-19 Action Fund for Africa (CAF-Africa). CAF-Africa is an action-oriented collaborative of 30+ organizations dedicated to protecting Community Health Workers on the frontlines of Africa’s COVID-19 response by providing Personal Protective Equipment to governments. To date, Aziz has supported the distribution of 946,456 million pieces of PPE through CAF-Africa to provide protection to over 12,800 Community Health Workers throughout Togo.
Aziz has an extensive background in logistics management. After graduating from university with a degree in geography in 2010, Aziz started as a radiation protection assistant at a uranium mining, international transport, and marketing company based in northern Niger. From there, Aziz earned his bachelor’s degree in logistics from the University Institute of Technology in Tahoua, Niger in 2013, after which he decided to pursue a master’s degree with the goal of working for a humanitarian organization. In 2018, Aziz saw Integrate Health’s job posting online and decided to apply. Originally from Niger, Aziz moved to Togo after accepting the role with Integrate Health. As part of his commitment to the work of Integrate Health, Aziz continued his education and has just completed an online master’s degree in Logistics with INEAD Group (An educational group from France) and plans to defend his research thesis in June 2021.
Aziz believes that good logistic management is necessary to increase the effectiveness of health systems. “I believe in the right to life, and the fact that Integrate Health is fighting to eliminate preventable deaths, it is an honor for me to contribute,” he remarks.
Integrate Health, in partnership with the Togolese Ministry of Health, works to make primary healthcare accessible to all. Efficient supply chain management is a central to ensuring that providers can deliver high-quality care, even in the hardest to reach communities. As logistics manager, Aziz ensures that pharmaceutical and supply orders, storage, and deliveries go smoothly every time. Integrate Health is confident that with Aziz and his team, health centers and providers have what they need to serve their communities.