Assessment of peste des petits ruminant's vaccine wastage along the vaccine supply chain in Mali

Guy Sidwatta Ilboudo^1*Ahmadou Sow²Cheick Abou Kounta Sidibé³Lokmane Ouedraogo⁴THEO KNIGHT-JONES⁵Cheick Oumar Fomba⁶Michel Dione^2*

• ¹International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• ²International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Bamako, Mali
• ³Central Veterinary Laboratory, Bamako, Mali
• ⁴Ministry of Economy and Finances, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• ⁵International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• ⁶Directorate of Veterinary Services, Bamako, Mali

This study was carried out in six regions of Mali to assess peste des petits ruminants (PPR) vaccine wastage along the vaccine supply chain during the vaccination campaign of 2023. Multi-stage stratified sampling was used to select 107 actors involved in the vaccine supply chain, including private veterinarians (n=75), public vaccinators (n=19), regional veterinary officers (n=12), and one senior veterinary officer at the central level. Participants operated across the dominant small ruminants (SR) production systems in Mali (pastoral, agropastoral, and peri-urban). The World Health Organization field guidelines for monitoring and reducing vaccine wastage was used as a basis for this study. A quarter of vaccine doses were wasted. The vaccine wastage rate was 24.3% in public sector and 25.4% in private sector with approximately 90% of wastage occurring at the final stage of delivery (veterinary posts, or private veterinarians). At upstream points in the vaccine supply chain, wastage was low in both private and public distribution channels (less than 1%). No statistically significant difference was observed between the public and private sectors in vaccine wastage rates across the different stages of the vaccine distribution chain. The biggest cause of wastage was vaccine being discarded due to denaturation (46.0% and 32.4% respectively for the private and public actors), as doses were not used within the short (1 hour) time window between reconstitution in the field and use. Also wastage was high due to improper injection (33.8% and 45.6% in public and private sectors), vial breakage (11.2 and 11.1%), and reconstitution errors (7.4 and 8.8%). The massive loss due to denaturation highlights the need for a more thermostable vaccine able to remain potent for a longer period after reconstitution. Efforts are also needed to strengthen the capacity of actors in the vaccine supply chain thereby enhancing vaccination coverage and reducing vaccine wastage