Volume : 08, Issue : 01, January – 2021

20. ASSESSMENT OF LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE FOR KEY ESSENTIAL MEDICINE IN PUBLIC HEALTH FACILITIES OF AWI ZONE, AMHARA REGIONAL STATE, NORTH WEST ETHIOPIA

Abera Tibebu, Gizachew Tilahun, Teshome Sosengo

Abstract :

Background: Poor performance of pharmaceutical logistics management not only wastes a resource, but also hampers availability and access to essential medicines in poorest countries of Africa and Asia, where more than 50% of their populations lack access to essential medicine for their primary health care needs.
The aim of this study was to assess the logistic management performance for key essential medicine in public health facilities of Awi zone, Amhara region, North West Ethiopia.
Methods: A facility based cross sectional study was conducted from March 15, 2019 – May 15, 2019 in 22 selected public health facilities in Awi zone. Quantitative data was collected by using semi-structured questionnaire and check list adopted from logistics indicator assessment tool. Qualitative data was collected by physical observation and in-depth interview of key informants was carried out by using tools adopted from logistics system assessment tool. The collected data were entered and analyzed by using Statistical package for Social Science version 23 for windows. Descriptive findings were presented by tables and charts. Fisher’s exact test was conducted to determine certain characteristics of the health facilities that are significantly associated with availability of essential medicines.
Result: A total of 22 health facilities were included in this study. All health facilities surveyed in this study used bin card for logistic data recording but the majority, 20(90.9%), did not use stock card for logistic data recording. Fourteen of the health facilities used electronic stock tracking system as a logistic data recording tool. The 16(72.7%), 18(81.8%) and 14(63.6%) of the health facilities have storage, integrated pharmaceuticals and logistics management system and quantification guide lines respectively. The mean absolute percentage forecast error was 41.42%. And average percentage availability of key essential medicines on the day of visit was 85.6%; the majority, 20 (91%) of surveyed facilities practice consumption method to quantify their pharmaceutical demand and 17 (77%) of health facilities used bin card as a source of data for quantifying their essential medicines demand. The 19(86%) of the health facilities have developed their own specific drug list and used it as a reference tool for procurement; regular supportive supervision and use of electronic stock tracking system to record logistic data was found to be significantly associated with availability of essential medicines (p<0.05). The 18(82%) of facilities did not full fill the criteria: products should be stacked at least 30 cm away from the walls and the current space and the organization should be sufficient for existing products and reasonable expansion.
Conclusion: The essential medicines selection performance of the facilities included in this study in terms of preparing facility specific drug list and its utilization was good. Forecasting performance of facilities in terms determining their annual essential drugs demand was poor. Majority of facilities have inadequate space and lack safe storage condition.

Keywords : logistics management, performance, key essential medicines, public health facilities; stock out

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