adminRumbidzayi Zinyuke in MUTAWATAWA
Health facilities in Uzumba Maramba Pfungwa (UMP) district have adopted modern technologies to track health commodities distributed within the district as a way of minimising losses and shortages.
Through the use of the Electronic Health Records (EHR) and the Electronic Logistic Management Information Systems (LMIS), the district has managed to distribute and track all health commodities to ensure no drugs expire before use while facilities receive sufficient commodities at all times.
The training of pharmacy staff on the use of the systems was facilitated through the World Bank Funded Health Sector Development Support Project additional financing V, which is being implemented by Cordaid and the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
Speaking during a media tour of facilities that have benefited from the project, UMP district pharmacist Ms Tarisai Mandishona said all pharmacy staff had received training and the necessary gadgets to be able to use the systems.
“These systems are designed in such a way that the EHR is used for both storeroom management and dispensing. Then we use the LMIS for storeroom management. So all our commodities are in the system and we dispense using the same system,” she said.
She said the use of the two systems meant that no commodity entered the district or left for health centres without being recorded and this enhanced accountability.
“When you dispense, the system tells you whether the commodity is about to expire or has already expired so this has gone a long way in making sure that we use the first expiry first out model to ensure no commodities expires,” added Ms Mandishona.
“In terms of tracking commodities, it actually generates reports at the end which tells you the drugs that will expire in the next six months and all the medications that have a short shelf life and those below emergency order point.”
She said each of the 20 clinics within the district used the same channel for receiving and dispensing drugs hence the enhanced accountability and optimised use of commodities.
UMP district medical director Dr Gladman Mubonani commended the Government and its partners for the technical support that has contributed to improved health service delivery in the district.
“Apart from training on the use of the electronic systems, our pharmacy staff also do routine visits in all the 20 clinics in the districts as a back up to see if commodities are being managed properly as a way of preventing commodities from expiring on us. Through the commodity tracking mechanism we have been able to redistribute drugs which are near expiry or drugs that are unevenly distributed throughout the district,” he said.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter