Medicine Reverse Logistics Management Practices and its challenge in Selected Public Health Centres in Addis Ababa
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Date
2023-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
In Ethiopia, out of the total amount of medicines distributed, 4.8 percent were found to be substandard medicines that did not meet appropriate quality standards and/or specifications. Such a significant amount of shortcomings triggers the need to study how expired, damaged, and overstocked items are managed at public health centers. The objective of the study is to assess how public health centers in Addis Ababa manage reverse logistics of medicines, the challenges associated with them, and their implementation status. Systematic random sampling was applied. A descriptive and exploratory research design was employed. Qualitative data from five professionals was collected, and quantitative data was collected through questionnaires, data abstraction formats, and checklists and analyzed using SPSS version 27. The results were presented using descriptive statistics. Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that the reverse logistics practice at health facilities is not implemented as per the guidelines of the MOH. 71% of the respondents said reverse logistics was not implemented at their facilities. The unavailability of a policy governing the reverse logistics of the medicine was confirmed by 69% of the respondents. Several challenges are making the implementation of reverse logistics difficult. This is due to the absence of stakeholder collaboration, which makes the practice difficult to implement across the board. Moreover, the absence of proper recording of the implementation status of reverse logistics makes the monitoring aspect difficult. Strategies for designing a proper reverse logistics system in the health supply chain system that would direct better management of expiries and overstocks were suggested. Reverse logistics need to be implemented at all health centers systematically and consistently. Health centers must consider reverse logistics activities in their planning and should correct the problems or challenges they experience promptly.
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Reverse Logistics