THE STUDY OF ETHIOPIA PUBLIC HEALTH SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: BEFORE AND AFTER PHARMACEUTICALS FUND AND SUPPLY AGENCY (PFSA)

Abstract

Background: Supply chain management is core component of health sector for health programs and services. It is a means to ensure products availability for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care and support. The Ethiopian public health SCM had a major reform in 2007 through the establishment of Pharmaceuticals Fund and Supply Agency, which is a semi-autonomous agency responsible for the forecasting, procurement, storage and distribution pharmaceuticals. Methods: Exploratory qualitative methods using mixed techniques i.e. survey and case study methods Objectives: To assess the strength, weakness and challenges of the Ethiopia public health SCM and compare it before and after PFSA Result: The establishment of PFSA has laid the foundation for strong public health supply chain. Major strengths were establishment of proxy & direct distribution system, improve infrastructure, improved availability of tracer commodities from 59% to 89%. The major weaknesses were lack of supply chain technical capabilities, lack of data visibility, lack of strong coordinating body, unavailability of enterprise wide business information system, lack accountability and clarity of roles and responsibility, and lack of private sector engagement and role. Since, the establishment of PFSA direct delivery (from non to thousands sites), expansion and improvement of warehouse infrastructure from 10 branches of storage capacity of 46,000 M3 to 17 branches of storage capacity 580,000 M3, institutionalization of IPLS and automation to over 500 health facilities, increased procurement volume from $45million to $315million and increased distribution volume from $55 million over $562 million (2007/8 vs. 2014) were significant. Conclusion and Recommendations: There are improvements in the public health SCM over years although there are long ways to resolve the bottlenecks. We recommend the develop national medium and long-term SCMS strategy, improved SCM technical skill sets, accountability and clarity of roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in SCM, restructure and strengthen both PLMU and PFSA, and improve coordination and communications systems