Serving vulnerable populations under the threat of epidemics and pandemics

Abstract

PurposeEpidemics and pandemics can result in sudden morbidity and mortality as well as social and economic disruption. However, the humanitarian logistics and supply chain management (HLSCM) field has been mostly focusing on life saving operations after natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. There is no research within the HLSCM literature neither on the unique properties of vulnerable groups, nor their underlying risk factors or how to mitigate them. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the uniqueness of some vulnerable groups and motivated us to conduct a structured literature review to identify research needs in HLSCM with regards to vulnerable populations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conduct a systematic review of literature on the intersection of epidemics/pandemics, humanitarian operations and vulnerable populations. They utilize the Scopus database to search for peer-reviewed journal articles published in English. Our search results in 366 articles which we reduced to 139 after filtering.FindingsThere is no research within the HLSCM literature on the unique properties of various vulnerable populations. The authors show that HLSCM scholars can contribute to literature by investigating operational and logistical challenges of serving vulnerable populations through multi-disciplinary research, research on the intersection of public health and supply chain management, research on the intersection of ethics and operations management, and research on cross-sectoral partnerships.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors’ work is limited to peer-reviewed journal articles published in English. They did not include books, conference proceedings and think-tank or NGO reports. However, the authors do recognize that these sources can be very valuable.Originality/valueTo best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to review the literature on vulnerable populations under the threat of epidemics and pandemics.

Methodology for Designing Humanitarian Supply Chains: Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines in Mexico

“…Although previous studies were conducted on the design of manufacturing supply chains, studies that investigated the design for HSCs were few and mainly written in the last year (Malmir and Zobel 2021;Sokat and Altay 2021). Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, no article that discusses the design of the cold chain for vaccine distribution using the proposed methodology for designing HSCs has been published.…”

Emergency supplies purchase patterns during COVID-19 outbreak in the developing economy: frequency and stockpiling drivers’ assessment

“…Because of the difficulties associated with urban logistics, urban areas are highly vulnerable to people's shopping behavior changes, which cause changes in the supply chains and require new strategies to be developed (Wu and Chaipiyaphan, 2019;Chaudhuri et al, 2020;Altay and Narayanan, 2021;Thompson and Anderson, 2021). The pandemic, as is common among all crisis and disasters, affected vulnerable population groups first (Allahi et al, 2021;Babatunde et al, 2020;Breitbarth et al, 2021;Blank, 2021;Sokat and Altay, 2021). Older people, for example, had difficulty accessing their usual food supplies due to a risk of being infected during physical store visits.…”

The Faith-Based Advantage: A Case Study on the Adventist Development & Relief Agency’s Response to Humanitarian Impacts of COVID-19 as a Faith-Based Organization

“…While already at heightened risk of poorer health outcomes directly related to the health emergency at hand, vulnerable populations are also disproportionately at risk of suffering secondary humanitarian impacts as well. [1][2][3] Secondary impacts seen during COVID-19 and other major outbreaks include economic instability and livelihood disruptions, food insecurity and malnutrition, health system stress/collapse, expanded need for psychosocial support, educational delays, increased child labor, hindered access to basic services, and the rise of violence and abuse. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] July 2021.…”

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] July 2021. Christian Journal for Global Health 8 (1) Faith-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have the potential to leverage mobilization for humanitarian response to reach the needs of vulnerable communities that may otherwise be overlooked during large-scale health emergencies. Oftentimes, faith-based NGOs have long-standing relationships and involvement within local communities, are trusted more than local secular institutions, and frequently have the ability to provide services of better quality than counterpart government and non-government organizations.…”

“…The SDA Church and ADRA hold a presence in 118 countries, with a global church membership of 22 million people, and this advantage was to be explored to leverage greater impact and develop innovative solutions that could be shared and adapted based on local contexts.July 2021. Christian Journal for Global Health 8(1) Foundational to this framework were three precepts by which ADRA was to function within each pillar: 1. Workforce Resilience.…”