Guinea Bissau is a small republic in West-Africa bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of over 1.8 million people. Guinea-Bissau’s GDP per capita is one of the lowest in the world. On the 2015 Human Development Index the country ranks 178 out of 188. More than two-thirds of the population lives below the poverty line. Life expectancy is around 60 years. The prevalence of HIV-infection among the adult population is 1.8%. Only 20% of infected pregnant women receive antiretroviral coverage to prevent transmission to new-borns (WHO HIV-Aids fact sheet 2020).
Since 2020, i+solutions delivers HIV treatments to Guinea Bissau under the Global Fund’s Pooled Procurement Mechanism contract. Guinea Bissau is also one of the recipient countries under the Global Fund’s PPE project that was awarded to i+solutions last year.
Last month, together with our LSP Maersk, we have successfully arranged a dedicated charter from India to Guinea Bissau, for a very urgent shipment of 97 pallets of paediatric treatments, totalling 26.968 packs of Lopinavir/Ritonavir. The products originated from one of our main suppliers, Mylan in India. The order was so urgent due to a stock out in Bissau Central Medical Store. Just to give you an idea: usually the lead time from PO to delivery is over 4 months. This shipment was organized and delivered within couple of weeks, thanks to the excellent cooperation of Maersk and the Principal Recipient. The Purchase order was placed with Mylan on the 10th of March, to be ready for shipping on the 24th of March 2021. On this same date, we initiated the importation process. We got the green light from customs authorities in Guinea Bissau to proceed on the 10th of April, the goods were picked up in Nashik on the 15th of April and ultimately delivered in full to Bissau central medical store on the 21st of April 2021.
Thank you to our staff and Maersk team located in Aarhus, Denmark for making it possible!
