HIV/AIDS

Strengthening HIV supply chains worldwide

At PFSCM, we are dedicated to strengthening health supply chains ensuring that essential HIV products are affordable and easily accessible to those in need.

Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in 1981, an estimated 85.6 million people have acquired HIV, and about 40.4 million people have succumed to the disease. The need for comprehensive, accessible, and effective HIV prevention, treatment, and care has never been more critical. HIV not only affects individual health but also imposes a significant societal and economic burden, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

People with HIV worldwide in 2022

People acquiring HIV in 2022

People died of HIV-related illnesses worldwide in 2022

Role of supply chains in fighting HIV

Supply chains play a crucial role in the fight against HIV by ensuring the reliable and efficient delivery of health products to support HIV prevention, treatment, and care programs. A strong supply chain improves access to essential medications, diagnostic tools, and other healthcare products necessary to combat the HIV epidemic. This ultimately helps organizations ensure that lifesaving HIV products reach the communities and individuals who need them.

Access to quality care is fundamental in the fight against HIV/AIDS. PFSCM strengthens health supply chains to ensure essential HIV products reach those in need. 

Our services that help HIV programmes

PFSCM’s supply chain expertise ensures the availability, affordability, and quality of HIV products, addressing accessibility challenges in low- and middle-income countries.

Product QA
PFSCM upholds the highest standards of quality assurance to ensure that the HIV products delivered meet stringent international quality requirements, providing confidence to our clients and end-users.
Strategic sourcing
PFSCM has access to a large and diverse local and international supplier base. We maintain strong supplier relationships to ensure the availability and affordability of essential HIV products.
Procurement services
PFSCM’s comprehensive procurement services streamline the process of acquiring HIV products, enabling our clients to access a wide range of essential items efficiently.
Logistics services
PFSCM’s logistics services ensure the timely and efficient delivery of HIV products to our clients globally, addressing the challenges posed by fragmented wholesaler and distributor networks and limited accessibility.

Products for HIV

PFSCM offers a range of essential HIV and coinfection products, including:

  •  Antiretrovirals
  • Condoms
  • Essential medicines
  • HIV rapid diagnostic test kits (HRDTs)
  • Kits for Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision
  • Laboratory equipment, reagents, and consumables 
  • Molecular diagnostics, including point-of-care (PoC) and near PoC for HIV Viral load (VL) testing and early infant diagnosis (EID)
  • Medicines to prevent tuberculosis
  • Medicines to treat opportunistic and co-infections like Hepatitis B and C
  • Medical supplies and equipment
  • Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
Drawing blood_3_Bamalete Lutheran Hospital

These products are essential in the fight against HIV and are delivered with a focus on quality and cost-effectiveness.

Where we came from

PFSCM is a nonprofit organization that was established in 2005 with a mission to combat the HIV epidemic. In the early 2000s, some 30 million people were infected with HIV on the African continent alone, and only about 50,000 had access to treatment. Patients were dying at alarming rates, and the cost to treat a single patient was up to $10,000 per year. At the height of the global AIDS crisis, many of the hardest-hit countries lacked the public health supply chain infrastructure to rapidly and effectively respond to the situation. Systems were challenged by frequent stockouts, overstocking, expiries, and wastage.

PFSCM implemented a project of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The project grew into one of the world’s largest public health supply chains and is still operational to this day.  PFSCM managed this program for over a decade, delivered more than $2.8 billion in healthcare products to 66 PEPFAR-supported countries, and managed the procurement and distribution of over 18,500 deliveries.

In 2016, 5.7 million people in developing countries received direct lifesaving ARV treatment, and the cost of drugs to treat a single patient dropped to $110 per year. In the same year, the project provided more than 70% of all PEPFAR-funded medicines. The project delivered more than 250 million HIV tests to high-prevalence countries, helping millions of people determine their status.

By 2017, the ceiling price dropped to $75 per person per year, and in 2023, through its competitive tenders, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, together with its partners and generic pharmaceutical manufacturers, agreed on a 25% price reduction tenofovir disoproxil, fumarate, lamivudine and dolutegravir. The agreement has brought the price for this first-line HIV treatment down to under $45 per person per year for the first time.

The project changed the public health supply chain landscape in several ways.

  • By securing approval to use generic ARV medicines, the project helped lower the average cost of ARVs from $1,500 per patient per year to an affordable $100 to $200. 
  • The project virtually eliminated central-level stockouts of HIV commodities in PEPFAR-supported countries. 
  • Using strategic stock of ARVs in three regional distribution centers and leveraging relationships with suppliers, the project became an emergency responder of choice. 
  • The rate of expiry in the project’s regional distribution centers was exceptionally low, at 0.73 percent, compared to the developed world pharmaceutical industry standard of between three and seven percent. 
  • The project helped build platforms to plan, procure, warehouse, and distribute the large volume of commodities required for testing, care, and treatment. 
  • The project supported national strategies and strengthened supply chain capacity in 21 countries.
  • The project maximized the use of safe, reliable ocean freight for major shipments of ARVs and other key products, saving more than $176 million in shipping costs over its lifetime.

Where we are now

Our commitment to strengthening supply chains, empowering communities, and ending inequalities related to HIV/AIDS is evident in our ongoing efforts to make essential HIV products more accessible and affordable.

Since 2019, across all projects, PFSCM has facilitated the delivery of more than 10,000 shipments of HIV and co-infection prevention, testing, and treatment products valued at more than $1.8 billion to clients in 113 countries.

We have proven experience in managing cost-effective procurement and delivery mechanisms for high-volume products like ARVs and HRDTs, and we have supported clients with pooled procurement, multi-month dispensing, carton-less packaging, and warehousing solutions for these pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Today, our offering includes all the products to ensure effective HIV health service delivery. From dried blood spot kits in easily configured bundles to equipment like CD4 machines used to monitor HIV viral load and Next Generation Sequencers used to detect drug resistance, we offer complete solutions, including the consumables and reagents needed for daily operation. Beyond these products, we also supply medical waste systems required to dispose of unavoidable waste generated during HIV testing procedures effectively.

PFSCM’s HIV capabilities:

    • We have access to all major prequalified suppliers of HIV diagnostics. Most of the suppliers are already onboarded with PFSCM, and we have Indefinite Quantity and/or Long-Term Contracts with many of them, including several generic antiviral manufacturers.
    • We help buyers to access the most suitable, value-for-money procurement options for equipment. This may include outright purchases, hybrid agreements, or all-inclusive agreements. We have also successfully facilitated rental agreements enabling countries to sustainably access the latest diagnostics technology.
    • With our partners, we oversee full procurement and delivery projects for extensive equipment rollouts. This may include storage, distribution, site preparation, installation, training, maintenance and service agreements, warranties, and/or extended warranties.
    • We fully manage the cold chain for time and temperature-sensitive reagents that need frequent replenishment. In 2023, PFSCM had zero insurance claims for cold chain shipments.
    • We have extensive experience procuring and delivering Next-Generation Sequencers used to monitor HIV drug resistance in a population. We work closely with suppliers to ensure countries can access the best pricing for these advanced machines.
    • We also procure a wide range of products to diagnose and treat HIV co-infections like tuberculosis (TB), human papillomavirus, and Hepatitis B and C. In addition to a wide range of molecular diagnostics (analyzers), we also offer medical imaging equipment to detect TB.

    PFSCM’s integrated supply chain capabilities:

    • Strategic sourcing
    • Forecasting and supply planning
    • Transactional procurement
    • Logistics and inventory management
    • Quality Assurance
    • Preparedness, rapid response and surveillance
    • Project management
    • Financial management
    • Information and data management
    Drawing blood_3_Bamalete Lutheran Hospital

    Our global health community

    The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Pooled Procurement Mechanism (2009 - ongoing)

    In 2009, 2013 and 2019, PFSCM was selected as a Procurement Service Agent (PSA) for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria’s Pooled Procurement Mechanism (PPM). PFSCM is currently contracted as PSA for:

    • Rapid Diagnostic Tests for HIV and Malaria programs
    • Viral Load and Early Infant Diagnostics, Other Diagnostics for HIV, TB and
    • Malaria programs, and Laboratory and Medical Supplies
    • and Medical Equipment and Devices

    Over the last 15 years, PFSCM has delivered thousands of shipments to more than 100 countries, helping ensure lifesaving HIV and coinfection prevention, testing, and treatment products reach communities in need.

    Ministry of Health Dominican Republic (2009 - ongoing)
    PFSCM has served the Ministry of Health of the Dominican Republic (DR) for more than 10 years. Through our partnership with the DR, PFSCM has helped the country to access and maintain a reliable supply of affordable quality-assured antiretrovirals (ARVs) for its HIV programs. It was through these programs that PFSCM was able to provide the DR with technical assistance and in-country logistics services, which helped the MoH improve its downstream distribution and plan for and adopt a multi-month dispensing of ARVs for patients meeting the treatment criteria.
    Janssen New New Horizons Advancing Pediatric HIV Care initiative (2014 - ongoing)

    PFSCM has been serving Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson’s New Horizons initiative since 2014. PFSCM is responsible for forecasting, validation, coordination, and order placement activities to ensure donated pediatric HIV medicines reach recipients in ten Sub-Saharan countries. PFSCM has supported Janssen with an access strategy and channel management services for products the manufacturer donates to Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

    UNAIDS HIV recency testing programme in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (Jan 2019 to ongoing)
    In 2019, PFSCM assisted UNAIDS Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) to identify and contract an affordable and reliable supplier of quality HIV recency tests for its research-only HIV recency testing programme, PFSCM also managed the logistics for delivering the goods from the supplier to in-country destinations in six countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Tajikistan. The incorporation of HIV recency testing (detection of HIV infection in less than six months) in national HIV case reporting systems, will help to assess how HIV is being transmitted, describe behaviors that are facilitating HIV transmission, and optimize HIV-related data collection and information on risk factors.
    Determined, Resilient Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored, and Safe Women (2016 - 2022)
    Gilead Sciences Inc. granted PFSCM more than $6 million for the procurement of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs to be used on behalf of the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe (DREAMS) partnership in several sub-Saharan African countries. PFSCM supported DREAMS with procurement and distribution services. We sourced, quality tested and coordinated the delivery of over 680,000 packs of essential HIV-prevention PrEP tablets – enough to treat about 56,515 people for a year.

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