Blog

This month, our QA Director Michiel de Goeje retired after 34 years of service at IDA Foundation. Bart van Osch, IDA’s new QA Director, has been working alongside Michiel for the past year, to ensure a thorough handover of responsibilities.

21 November 2021 marks 49 years of bridging the gap in access to medicines. This means that our 50th year of operations has started, and in one year, we will be celebrating IDA Foundation's 50th anniversary!

This week marks the beginning of the annual World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW), aiming to create awareness around the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR occurs when bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites that cause disease stop responding to existing medicines.

According to WHO, despite significant advances in driving down child mortality rates in recent decades, almost 5.2 million children under five still die every year from preventable and treatable diseases, most of whom are in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Leading causes are (pre-term) birth complications as well as preventable and/or treatable health issues such as malaria and measles.

We have some catching up to do! The pandemic has limited our ability to travel to IDA’s partners around the world. Fortunately, online meetings and contacts are efficient and allow us to work effectively as well. Nonetheless, we recognise the added value that local face-to-face meetings have, and current visits to our African agents. distributors and other partners were long overdue.

On World Values Day, we take some time to look at what we value most in life. IDA Foundation's five values shape our unique culture and unite our people in achieving our goals. We believe our values help us in achieving our mission of bridging the gap in access to medicines and our values facilitate the achievement of our long-term goals of Universal Health Coverage, Strengthened Local Capacity and Sustainable Value Chains.

Today is Global Handwashing Day. On this day the Global Handwashing Partnership raises awareness on the importance of hand hygiene. At IDA Foundation we underline the importance of practicing hand hygiene, to prevent sickness and the spread of infectious diseases.

The World Health Organization published the latest edition of its Model Lists of Essential Medicines (EML) and Essential Medicines for Children last week, which include new treatments for various cancers, insulin analogues and new oral medicines for diabetes, new medicines to assist people who want to stop smoking, and new antimicrobials to treat serious bacterial and fungal infections.

This month, our Area Manager Alexander traveled for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As with many countries in Africa, COVID-19 restrictions are still in place, meaning that travelling has become more complex, for example with additional testing to cross borders. Nonetheless, these visits are important and very valuable to both parties to enhance our relationships, exchange knowledge and expertise, and visit health (storage) facilities.

On the 25th of September, Dutch organisations, municipalities, the Dutch ministries and embassies together take part in the flag day, an event through which they show their support for the United Nations’ Global Goals / SDGs. More than 850 Global Goals-flags will be raised on this day!

This week, our colleague Rheinhard Hein hosted two training sessions for all IDA employees on Diversity and Inclusion. As we set out our strategic roadmap, IDA prioritised key Sustainable Development Goals that we can make an impact on, including SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). We asked Rheinhard to provide some key insights to the subject, and why this training is so valuable for a future-proof workforce.

A deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan means that an estimated 18 million people are currently in need of aid. Working closely with our customers, this week IDA will be shipping another 1000 IEHK (kits) from our warehouse in Tilburg, and over 1500 IEHK from our kitting facility in Dubai have already arrived. Aside from emergency kits, IDA also shipped 120 Pediatric Severe Acute Malnutrition (PED-SAM) kits, containing essential oral- and injectable- medication to treat young children who are suffering from medical complications caused by severe acute malnutrition. The warehouse teams are working 24/7 to make sure these essential supplies are reach Afghanistan - and those in need- as soon as possible.

At IDA Foundation we believe learning lies at the basis of both professional- and personal development. In one of our previous blogs we shared some information on how we address learning and make sure all our colleagues have the opportunity to develop themselves. We mentioned our HR initiative of Social Learning courses, the access our colleagues have to the LinkedIn Learning platform, and how we create a learning environment where we hire and train interns.

Did you know IDA has already been active for almost 50 years? As we move nearer to this special 50th anniversary in 2022, we are reflecting on some key facts and figures. Keep an eye on our blog to see how you could become a part of IDA’s 50 year celebrations and impact.

Today, August 19, is World Humanitarian Day. On this day we honour the people who have dedicated their lives to humanitarian causes and sacrificed their lives for the betterment of humanity. Whether it's supporting refugees fleeing from political conflict, or by providing help to victims of natural disasters, they are in the field to help others.

As an employer, IDA Foundation aims to create an open learning environment for all of our people. We achieve this by stimulating learning on the job. This includes (online) courses and workshops for our employees, to develop their professional knowledge as well as social skills, which help them to develop and grow within the organisation.

IDA Foundation has partnered with Ferring Pharmaceuticals, who have developed heat-stable carbetocin (HSC), a product that can reduce the risk of PPH. HSC is more resistant against higher temperatures and increased humidity compared to oxytocin, making it very suitable for use in low- and middle-income countries. HSC is now being used in clinical practice for the first time in healthcare settings in India - with more LMICs following soon.

On World Hepatitis Day we raise awareness about viral hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver that can have severe consequences. Every thirty seconds a person is dying from hepatitis-related illness, and many who have it are unaware. This is why early diagnosis and effective treatment are essential when it comes to elimination of viral hepatitis. The tools to eliminate viral hepatitis exist, but without an urgent upscaling of needed services, the opportunity to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030 will be lost.

Last week, IDA Foundation supplied 228 pallets of kits to Afghanistan for WHO. The kits, which contain medical supplies and essential medicines, were loaded on two charter flights from our warehouse in Dubai. The WHO is working closely together with the Ministry of Public Health to distribute these supplies to health care facilities across the country.

Earlier this year, IDA Foundation was invited to participate in the video series ‘Phases of the Global Goals’ created by the UN Global Compact Netherlands. IDA is a participant of UN Global Compact since 2018 and since then we have been redefining and shaping our strategy and short- and long-term goals to better align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

At IDA Foundation we are committed to supporting health organisations in LMICs with the roll-out of vaccination programmes. We have already received our first orders, and we hope to supply vaccination-related products to many more customers. To facilitate and support those customers, we have created an overview of all the products needed for vaccination. By grouping these different items in one factsheet we hope to ease the ordering process.

In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), women often lack access to the right nutrients during pregnancy. Proper nutrition during pregnancy is essential for a healthy mother and for a healthy start of life for every newborn child. In line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, IDA Foundation aims to support both maternal- and child-health, by supplying a broad range of products related to family planning, healthy pregnancies and safe births.

In March this year, IT updated the IDA laptops, thereby allowing all IDA colleagues to work efficiently from home during lockdown. As the old IDA laptops were still fit for use, we looked for a sustainable way to give them a new life.

India is slowly recovering from a severe and devastating second COVID-19 wave, during which India reported 414.188 daily new cases at its highest peak on 7 May (WHO, 2021). Cities such as Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra have been hit especially hard by this wave.

On World Refugee Day, we honour the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. As part of IDA's goal of Universal Health Coverage, we supply emergency kits and other essential medicines and supplies in bulk to international NGO’s and UN organisations supporting refugees.

IDA Foundation has a large global network of over thirty agents and distributors. We work closely together with our agents and distributors, as they provide essential local knowledge and expertise. Strengthened Local Capacity is one of our newly formulated long-term goals, as part of our sustainable strategy, which helps us to build and strengthen local health systems.

IDA Foundation, on behalf of the Stop TB Partnership/The Global Drug Facility (GDF), is today launching an Invitation to Bid (ITB) for the supply of Ethambutol 100mg dispersible tablets for the treatment of drug-sensitive forms of tuberculosis.

Over the past year, IDA Foundation has shipped a large number of PED/SAM (pediatric severe acute malnutrition) kits to multiple countries in Africa and to Yemen.  The PED/SAM kit consists of seven different modules each containing either essential medicines, renewables and other medical equipment suitable for the treatment of children who are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and associated medical complications. With these much-needed kits we have helped our customers treat around 40.000 children in the last year.

Together with our external design agency, we have created a new animated kitting video. This video explains the complex process at IDA’s kitting facility in Dubai step by step.

With most organisations working from home for over a year now, many of us at IDA will say that we have managed to keep our organisation running quite smoothly. But a big aspect of working life are our colleagues and the office culture. So how are we staying connected to our colleagues and holding on to the IDA team spirit?

On World Health Day, we celebrate the founding of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 7 in 1948. This year’s campaign is ‘building a fairer, healthier world’, emphasising the importance of equality in access to healthcare.

Access to good quality healthcare is a challenge for many people in Sudan - a country with a population of almost 43 million people. In the last quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, IDA assembled over 600 Rapid Response Kits (RRKs) for one of our main customers, to specifically support primary healthcare needs in eight different remote locations in Sudan.

Just over a year after the start of the corona pandemic it is clear that covid-19 has had a devastating impact on the progress of existing tuberculosis (TB) programmes. For latent and progressive infectious diseases, such as TB, early diagnosis and treatment are essential.

One year into the global COVID-19 pandemic, much of the global focus is currently going to vaccination rollouts, but treatment options are still limited. However, dexamethasone, an essential medicine which has been around for decades (listed by WHO since 1977) – is one of the few approved treatments for severe and critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Within the context of upcoming International Women's Day (IWD) on March 8, we approached a few of our female agents and distributors with some questions regarding gender equality.

This month, IDA supplied 500 oxygen concentrators to Dubai and Ghana for one our largest customers to be distributed to various end destinations in Africa and Asia.

New partnership broadens access to oncology treatments across Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Western Pacific

IDA Foundation has published its annual Product Indicator. This booklet provides an overview of the products we supply. The sections on diagnostics and medical supplies are also available in French in addition to English. All medicines and supplies in the Product Indicator are grouped according to the WHO classification of Essential Medicines as listed in the Essential Medicines List (EML).

In 2020, we were all challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the crisis also provided an opportunity to reflect on what's important, whether we are in a crisis or not. More than ever, it has become clear that solid health systems are indispensable when fighting both pandemics and endemics. If we want to overcome any global health crises, we all need to work together.

World AIDS Day, held on December 1 since 1988, is an international day dedicated to creating awareness of the HIV/AIDS burden worldwide. Thus far, of the approximately 38 million people with HIV worldwide, around 26 million are on retroviral therapy, which is triple the number in 2010 (UN Report, 2020). Furthermore, AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 56% since 2005 (UNAIDS, 2019). Despite these achievements, significant challenges remain, with increasing rates of infections in key communities.

Today marks the beginning of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week. This week aims to create awareness around the accelerated threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and stop responding to medicines, increasing the risk of diseases and severe illnesses.

Since the early start of the pandemic we have been supplying PPE and other urgent supplies to countries worldwide, and we have seen the effects of the unforeseen costs that come with it. Budgets need to be reassessed and customers must find a balance between products required and increased transport costs.

Today, October 6, we celebrate Diversity Day at IDA Foundation. For this occasion we asked a few team members, among which our Director HR, to tell us what diversity means to them and how IDA is addressing this.

IDA Foundation, on behalf of the Stop TB Partnership/The Global Drug Facility (GDF), is today launching an Invitation to Bid (ITB) for the supply of ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS MEDICINES AND RELATED PRODUCTS for the treatment of DRUG-RESISTANT FORMS of tuberculosis to eligible manufacturers.

As part of IDA Foundation’s sustainability journey, our headquarters in Amsterdam were renovated in 2018 according to the highest green standards. As the area around our office is currently undergoing many changes, requiring our parking lot to be moved, IDA is taking the opportunity to also turn our office terrain into a climate-adaptive green zone that will benefit the local environment.

In this pandemic, QA remains vital as always, as we found ways to ensure continued supply of essential (PPE) products. As ADB's Jesper Pedersen commented: “The best practice for supply chain responsiveness and resiliency is to perform key aspects of quality assurance upfront to ensure parties involved in the manufacture of goods adhere to the applicable national or international standards of the items being produced. Quality control is then handled upon physical inspection of the goods to ensure the delivered items meet the agreed standards. This is exactly what we have seen so far in our relationship with IDA – the right goods, delivered at the right time, and to the agreed standard.”

On Monday July 6, Johnson & Johnson announced a price reduction of the anti-tuberculosis medicine bedaquiline, for low- and middle-income countries. Thanks to the support of USAID and the Global Fund, this price reduction could be achieved. The price dropped from $400 to $340 for a six-month treatment regimen.

After months of working from home due to the major impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can say our staff does not take this as an excuse to stop exercising. The past few weeks our employees were challenged to share their ways of staying fit during this global crisis, with the very first IDA Fit Challenge. We asked colleagues to share how they are staying fit during lockdown.

The global supply chain is heavily impacted by the pandemic spread of the corona virus. Transport options are scarce due to export restrictions and due to countries being in lockdown to prevent the corona virus from further spreading. These regulations pose challenges for us as a supplier of medical goods.

As the Corona virus pandemic spreads around the globe, and all health care systems and governments seem to be engulfed with battling COVID-19, we realise it is more important than ever that we don’t lose sight of other existing health issues.