Impact of Supply Chain Practices on Medicine Wastage and Expiration Rates in Zewditu Memorial Hospital
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Date
2026-10
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Addis Abeba Universty
Abstract
Background: Globally, the amount of wastage and expired medicines is growing at an alarming rate due to lack of effective supply chain management, poor storage management and oversupply of medicines, especially in resource limited setting also medication waste can occur in all stages of the pharmaceutical supply chain and it involves various stakeholders in the medication supply chain, from manufacturer to patient, contributing to medication waste. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the impact of supply chain practices on Medicine Wastage and Expiration Rates in Zewditu Memorial Hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was employed, involving 78 respondents selected through purposive sampling from pharmacy professionals, nurses, and department heads directly involved in pharmaceutical supply chain management. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire measuring five supply chain practice domains and medicine wastage outcomes on a five-point Likert scale. Secondary data on medicine wastage values (2016–2017 EFY) were abstracted from hospital records. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 27, RESULT: The response rate was 86.6%. All five supply chain practices demonstrated significant positive correlations with medicine wastage. Inventory management showing the strongest correlation (r = 0.724). Inventory management had the strongest effect (β = 0.373, p < 0.001), followed by forecasting (β = 0.237, p = 0.004), procurement (β = 0.224, p = 0.005), storage (β = 0.188, p = 0.006), and information sharing (β = 0.142, p = 0.034). The total financial value of wasted medicines in EFY 2016–2017 was 4,310,676 ETB, representing a 0.58% wastage rate. The top three wasted pharmaceuticals by value were Potassium Chloride injection (833,721 ETB), Microbiology Urea Agar (303,922.50 ETB), and Blood collection tubes (150,000 ETB).
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Supply Chain Management, Medicine Wastage, Expiration Rates, Pharmaceutical Logistics, Public Hospital, Inventory Management.