https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1290-9484
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ABSTRACT
Introduction
The urgent need to acquire medical supplies amidst the COVID-19 pandemic has led to bypassing of controls that govern the global pharmaceutical supply chain, increasing the risk of corruption. Hence, promoting anti-corruption, transparency, and accountability (ACTA) in supply chain and procurement has never been more important. The adoption of digital tools, if designed and implemented appropriately, can reduce the risks of corruption.
Areas Covered
Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted an interdisciplinary systematic review of health/medicine, humanities/social sciences, engineering, and computer science literature, with the aims of identifying technologies used for pharmaceutical supply chain and procurement optimization and reviewing whether they address ACTA mechanisms to strengthen pharmaceutical governance. Our review identified four distinct categories of digital solutions: e-procurement and open contracting; track-and-trace technology; anti-counterfeiting technology; and blockchain technology.
Expert Opinion
Findings demonstrate an increase in research of technologies to improve pharmaceutical supply chain and procurement functions; however, most technologies are not being leveraged to directly address ACTA or global health outcomes. Some blockchain and RFID technologies incorporated ACTA mechanisms and mentioned specific policy/governance frameworks, but more purposeful linkage is needed. Findings point to the need for targeted policy development and governance to activate these innovative technologies to improve global health .
Abbreviations
| ACM | = | Association for Computing Machinery |
| ACTA | = | Anti-Corruption, Transparency, and Accountability |
| ADC | = | Automated Dispensing Cabinet |
| DLT | = | Distributed ledger technology |
| DSCSA | = | Drug Supply Chain Security Act |
| E-pedigree | = | Electronic pedigree |
| E-procurement | = | Electronic Procurement |
| HTAs | = | Health Technology Assessments |
| ICT | = | Information and Communication Technologies |
| IEEE | = | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
| IoT | = | Internet-of-Things |
| JSTOR | = | Journal Storage |
| NFC | = | Near Field Communication |
| NFT | = | Non-fungible token |
| NGO | = | Non-governmental Organization |
| NQR | = | Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance |
| OECD | = | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
| OCDS | = | Open Contracting Data Standard |
| RFID | = | Radio-frequency Identification |
| UHF | = | Ultra-high Frequency |
| UN | = | United Nations |
| UNCAC | = | United Nations Convention on against Corruption |
| UNCTAD | = | United Nations Conference on Trade and Development |
| UNDP | = | United Nations Development Programme |
| UNODC | = | United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime |
| WHO | = | World Health Organization |
Author contributions
G Saeed and TK Mackey contributed to methodology, data curation, formal analysis, writing – original draft. JC Kohler and TK Mackey contributed to supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition. All authors contributing to conceptualization, writing – review and editing of the manuscript.
Data availability
This systematic review is not registered.
Declaration of interest
TK Mackey is the CEO and co-founder of the startup company S-3 Research LLC, which is a company focused on data science solutions to address public health challenges and is currently funded by a National Institutes of Health – National Institute on Drug Abuse Small Business Innovation Research Contract. The company had no input, provided no funding, and otherwise had no involvement in the study. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
Reviewer disclosures
Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.