Lusaka, May 19 (IANS) The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Zambia and UNDP India convened in Lusaka to launch support for adapting India’s Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) platform for Zambia’s essential medicines “Track and Trace” and supply chain management system.

The five-day mission running from May 18–22 is being conducted in collaboration with the Zambian Ministry of Health, the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA), and the Smart Zambia Institute.

The initiative brought together technical experts from Zambia and India under a South-South cooperation framework aimed at strengthening pharmaceutical supply chain visibility, accountability, and data-driven decision-making across the health sector.

“Originally developed in India to strengthen vaccine logistics and stock visibility, the eVIN platform has become a globally recognised digital public health solution capable of enabling real-time inventory management, temperature monitoring, and improved distribution efficiency. Zambia is now exploring the adaptation of the platform to support broader essential medicines management and health commodity tracking,” read a statement issued by the UNDP.

“The mission comes at a critical time as Zambia continues to strengthen resilience, transparency, and sustainability in the health sector amid increasing pressure on health financing systems and growing demand for digital accountability mechanisms. The initiative aligns with Zambia’s national digital transformation agenda, health systems strengthening priorities, and ongoing efforts to modernise medicine supply chain management,” it added.

During the mission, the delegation will engage with senior officials from the Ministry of Health, Smart Zambia Institute, ZAMMSA, and UNDP while conducting technical working sessions and field assessments across national, provincial, district, and facility levels.

The discussions will focus on interoperability with existing digital health platforms, governance arrangements, workflow adaptation, reporting requirements, metadata architecture, operational bottlenecks, and institutional readiness for pilot implementation.

According to the UNDP, the mission is also expected to deepen India–Zambia cooperation in digital health innovation and position Zambia as a potential regional model for intelligent pharmaceutical supply chain systems in Africa.

A dedicated engagement with the Indian High Commissioner to Zambia and UNDP teams will explore opportunities for sustained bilateral collaboration and technical support for the pilot phase.

“By leveraging South-South cooperation and proven digital public infrastructure models, the initiative seeks to improve stock visibility, reduce medicine wastage and stockouts, strengthen accountability, and support timely access to essential medicines for communities across Zambia,” the statement noted.

–IANS

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