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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Decision making in the HIV/AIDS supply chain

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

During the first two decades of HIV/AIDS awareness, the U.S. and foreign governments responded slowly to the crisis. In contrast today, as the pandemic continues, initiatives of nonprofit organizations have dramatically increased the amount of available funding. Countries must work to effectively allocate the influx of resources. This paper examines one area for improvement within the context of the developing world: supply chain management. The HIV/AIDS supply chain in a resource-poor setting differs from traditional networks. In order to properly manage operational activities, it is important to understand inherent system complexities, such as bureaucratic funding, forced ordering, shrinkage, and human capital constraints. This research explores these issues and identifies five scenarios that impact performance measures. The model, developed through an integrated supply chain approach, simulates the effects of scenarios on inventory level, cycle service level, and missed treatment dosages. Supply chain planning without accounting for system complexities leads to significant drops in service performance from theoretical expectations. Countries should order excess inventory to compensate for these issues.

Degree

thesis:*
Department dc:contributor.department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division
Grantor dc:publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Year dc:date.issued
2007

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Cao, Elaine Phu
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Edgar Blanco.

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
Language dc:language.iso
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40108
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/40108

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
MIT
Base URL
dspace.mit.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Cao, Elaine Phu. Decision making in the HIV/AIDS supply chain. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40108