Assefa, Teklegiorgis (Asst. Prof.)Kebede, Eshetu2020-12-122023-11-042020-12-122023-11-042020-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/23984Availability of pharmaceuticals is vital to the success of any healthcare programme. Ef ective and ef icient pharmaceuticals inventory management provide accurate consumption data and enables accurate forecast of the future demands of pharmaceuticals. The objective of the study was to assess the pharmaceuticals inventory management practices and challenges of the Tikur Anbesa Specialized Hospital. Both quantitative and qualitative research approach was employed. This study followed the facility based cross-sectional descriptive study design. The sample size of the study was 138 health professionals of the hospital and proportionate stratified sampling technique was applied. Primary data was collected through questionnaire, interview and observation. Secondary data were obtained from bin cards, report and resupply form, model 19 and model 22.Quantitative data were analyzed through statistical package for the social scienceswhereas qualitative data was discussed in relation with quantitative analysis.The major findings from the study were that the hospital established procedures for placing emergency orders, obsolete & expired or damaged inventories are managed according to the Disposal Guideline and the hospitaluses health commodities management information system,, periodical replenishment of stocks were practiced.The study concluded that the main challenges of the hospital in managing pharmaceuticals inventories are lack of modern technologies, insuf icient budget, long lead time, the length of bureaucratic systems in the procurement, lack of on job training, automated auditable pharmaceuticals transactions and services system,and integrated information sharing system. Based on the findings, the study recommends that suf icient budget needs to be allocated, relevant modern technologies needs to be applied, bureaucratic length of procurement system needs to be improved and on job training needs to be giventorelevant professionals to increase availability and improve quality of health services.en-USPharmaceutical inventory managementdrugs, medical equipmentmedical supplieslaboratory reagentThesis