Project Last Mile, managed by the Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF), has won Gold for Humanitarian and Health Supply Chain Management at the 2026 Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards. The award was given in recognition of the partnership’s decade of work helping South Africa’s National Department of Health expand and decentralize the Central Chronic Medicines Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) program.

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A pharmacist at Clicks Kabega Park in Gqeberha, South Africa, holds a Dablapmeds medicine parcel. Dablapmeds helps eligible patients collect repeat chronic medicines from convenient community Pick-up Points, including private pharmacies.

A pharmacist at Clicks Kabega Park in Gqeberha, South Africa, holds a Dablapmeds medicine parcel. Dablapmeds helps eligible patients collect repeat chronic medicines from convenient community Pick-up Points, including private pharmacies.

For a patient on lifelong treatment, CCMDD is the difference between a morning lost to a clinic queue and a ten-minute stop on the way home. The program allows eligible patients to collect repeat medicines, including antiretroviral treatment, from private pharmacies and other convenient community locations – saving patients time and easing pressure on public health facilities that serve millions of people managing HIV and other chronic conditions.

For the past decade, Project Last Mile has worked alongside the National Department of Health – the owner and leader of CCMDD – drawing on capabilities from across the Coca-Cola system and adapting them into effective approaches for public health. PLM’s work has included using geospatial mapping to identify underserved areas and guide expansion of the external Pick-up Point network, and helping the Department develop and launch Dablapmeds, a consumer brand, to build awareness and encourage patient uptake.

CCMDD has grown substantially under the National Department of Health’s leadership, with support from partners including Project Last Mile. Between December 2018 and December 2025:

  • External Medicine Pick-up Points nearly tripled, from 1,037 to 3,028, giving patients more options for medicine pick-up.

  • Patients collecting medicine at those points grew more than fivefold, from 424,130 to more than 2.25 million.

  • Total CCMDD enrollment rose from 1.35 million to more than 3.73 million people now actively picking up their chronic medicines at convenient options like private pharmacies, which has been proven to improve client satisfaction, treatment retention, and lower health system costs.

“This award recognizes both the leadership of South Africa’s National Department of Health and its embrace of Project Last Mile’s leading private sector practices from the Coca-Cola system to better serve patients across the country. This partnership enables each partner to contribute their strengths to achieve a positive outcome for South Africans,” said Alexandra Scott, President of GETF and PLM Managing Director.

Project Last Mile’s decade of work supporting CCMDD is one example of the partnership’s broader work across Africa. The partnership has worked with ministries of health and partners in 17 African countries, applying private sector capabilities to challenges including medicine and vaccine supply chains, decentralized access to health services, healthcare worker training, and targeted communications.

The Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards recognize organizations demonstrating innovation, resilience, and measurable impact in supply chain management across the continent. The award was presented in Pretoria on August 19, 2026.

About Project Last Mile

Project Last Mile improves the availability of life-saving medicines and health services in Africa by leveraging the expertise and network of the Coca-Cola system. As a global partnership, it brings together partners across sectors, including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund), the Gates Foundation, The Coca-Cola Company and The Coca-Cola Foundation. Project Last Mile adapts Coca-Cola models and best practices through collaboration with ministries of health, social enterprises and donor partners, drawing on resources including vendor networks, talent, business processes, models, and data. Project Last Mile is managed by the Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF). For more information, visit https://www.projectlastmile.com/.

About GETF

The Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF), established in 1988, is a leading 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that designs and manages high impact public-private partnerships, improving the lives of over 57 million people in over 100 countries through water security and water access initiatives, health systems strengthening, circularity, entrepreneurship, community empowerment, sustainable agriculture, and resilience. Leading partnership platforms under GETF’s management include The Coca-Cola Company’s Africa Water Stewardship initiative, Project Last Mile, Next Mile Ventures, Partnership for a Circular Tomorrow, Cargill Currents, and many others. GETF also serves as the Secretariat for Global Water Challenge, a high-impact water coalition. For more information, visit getf.org.

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