Mathematical Programming Model for optimal Design of Sustainable Vaccine Supply Chain in Developing Countries

The enormous health and economic damage of epidemic diseases and the introduction of new vaccines, such as pneumococcal and rotavirus, - which need significantly higher cold storage capacity and other infrastructures - make designing a sustainable vaccine supply chain essential. The health policy makers in developing countries as well as low-and middle income- countries should be aware of the current and future needs of immunization infrastructure based upon population growth rate and the introduction of these vaccines. Thus the availability of a model with the capability to recognize and design the vast vaccine infrastructure expansion is critical for health policy makers to realize future immunization plans. Vaccine supply chain is a large, inter-continental network with enormous cost and environmental implications. Therefore the design of not only a cost effective supply chain but also an environmental friendly one, is important. This Study addresses the optimal design and planning of vaccine supply chain based on environmental and economic objectives. The environmental objective is measured by a life cycle assessment methodology. With this approach, the environmental emissions associated with all echelons of vaccine supply chain, including vaccine manufacturing and packaging, transportation, cold chain and disposal was measured from a cradle to grave perspective. Further, the economic objective was evaluated by considering the total investment cost of each echelon of the supply chain. In order to optimize the vaccine supply chain by considering environmental and economic issues simultaneously, a multi-objective continuous linear mathematical programming model is developed that accounts for major characteristics of the vaccine supply chain, including geographical and industrial diversity of suppliers, various shipment types, different refrigeration options, multiple disposal methods, vaccine demand distribution, cold chain and transportation capacity. The resulting Pareto-optimal curves display the tradeoff between the environmental and economic dimensions of vaccine supply chain.