South Africa’s pharmaceutical supply chain has proved that it can easily hold its own anywhere in the world.While cold chain solutions are expensive, logistics companies have shown their ability to move high-value, temperature-sensitive products under trying and difficult conditions to even the remotest corners of the country.According to Anthony Diack, managing director of DSV Healthcare, the company has invested heavily in its cold chain ability, ensuring it has the necessary capacity, resources and expertise. “Doing cold chain logistics well is not easy. Not only are there layers of complexity, but regulation and governmental guidelines need to be followed. It is not as easy as some ice bricks on top of a cooler box,” he said. “Our operations compare very well with those of first world countries, in some cases they are even better. We have a very mature and robust pharmaceutical supply chain.”According to Eben Zandberg, the company's national validation and accreditation manager, one of the challenges for local industry is getting the balance right between the costs of transport, packaging, compliance and regulations.“It is a fine balance that must be achieved,” he said. “For instance, the further the customer is from the DSV warehouse, the longer the box needs to maintain the cold chain. This inevitably drives up the cost of the box as well as the total solution that needs to be provided.”This had to be achieved, said Ravina Govender, quality assurance director, without compromising product integrity. “Border delays are a major challenge in the cold chain as they cannot be anticipated. Although we have validated packaging solutions ranging from 24 hours to 144 hours, delays at the border can have dire consequences.”She said road freight was the option of choice for moving pharmaceuticals as it was the most cost-effective solution. “Also our boxes are often reused for further deliveries in order to save costs.”Diack said pharmaceutical volumes continued to record an increase and the outlook for the sector was positive.“There was a massive demand for product in March prior to the lockdown – which has tapered off somewhat,” he said, indicating that the Covid-19 pandemic had affected the usual supply and demand cycle. “Volume and value wise we estimate that the market has grown at around 1% over the past 12 months. Devices and diagnostics have seen a particular spike in volumes.”Govender said an ongoing issue affecting logistics operations was the increased regulation by government of medical and pharmaceutical products.