Background: Inventory management is the important pillar of the pharmaceutical supply
system. Problems in inventory management system generally features with ad hoc decision
about order frequency and quantity, inaccurate stock records and lack of system performance
monitoring and consequently shortage of pharmaceuticals in the health facilities.
Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the pharmaceutical logistics system
performance in Pemba public health facilities.
Methodology: The study was a cross-sectional survey that involved twenty eight health
facilities and two warehouses. Inventory keeping records over a period of one year, from
January to December 2012, were reviewed. Data on storage condition and HWs‟ knowledge
on logistics were collected using storage condition check list and questionnaire respectively.
Data on medicine expiry were collected based on recorded data and physical counting.
Results: The average percent of time out of stock for all health facilities combined was 31%,
at ZILS department store was 13.2% and at the Zonal Central Medical Store was14.4%.
Percentage of accurate stock records was 70.6% in health facilities that were using pull supply
system, 64.9% in those facilities which were using push supply system, and 47.3% in facilities
which were using bulky supply system (DHs). Storage condition in 52.2% of the PHCUs was
unacceptable.
Conclusion: Health facilities in Pemba, within a year, faced stock outs of a number of
pharmaceutical products. Stock keeping records were also not perfectly accurate. It is
recommended that training should be conducted to all health workers involved in the
management of pharmaceuticals, on the basics of pharmaceutical store management with due
emphasis on record keeping and specifically the proper use of store ledgers and bin cards.