Design of a supply chain distribution network for communicable diseases: Hepatitis A in Jordan as a case study

Purpose Distribution network plays a vital role on the efficiency and the responsiveness of a supply chain. Any product or service goes through a network until it reaches the final customer. Health care systems incorporate distribution networks to better provide health services to patients. In this study, a distribution network for communicable diseases has been developed. The proposed network addresses Hepatitis A in Jordan as a case study, as it is considered one of the common communicable diseases in Jordan. Findings A regression model was developed to predict future incidents of Hepatitis A in Jordan to build a distribution network based on the future required resources. An optimization clustering model was used to structure the appropriate distribution network. The proposed network was compared with the current network used for distribution of medications for Hepatitis A. Conclusion The new network incurs less cost in delivering medications to the required hospitals as the traveling distance is less. As future work, it is recommended to incorporate more communicable diseases to develop more realistic distribution network.