Ministry of Health and Population
and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) launched today 'Health
for Life Logistics' – a $2.2 million five-year project – aimed at strengthening
the ministry logistics system to ensure sustained availability of essential
health commodities in health facility and community settings.
In the fiscal year 2000-01, some 23
per cent of health facilities experienced stock-outs of family planning
commodities like condoms, pills, and Depo and 62 per cent of stock-outs of
trace drugs like Iron, Vitamin A, Oral Rehydration Salts, and Cotrim P. But over
the last 10 years, the ministry’s Logistics Management Information System data
demonstrates that year-round stock-outs of family planning commodities at
health facilities were reduced to four per cent and stock-outs of tracer drugs to 16
per cent during that same period.
The USAID has supported the ministry
in strengthening the logistics system for health commodities since the
inception of the Logistics System Improvement Plan in 1994. There remains a
need to consolidate gains made to date and to adapt the system to the changing
circumstances.
Health for Life Logistics is a
nationwide project that will help the ministry monitor its stock of health
commodities and use data from the logistics and health management information
systems to make decisions about where additional commodities and support are
needed.
In addition to its national
focus, Health for Life Logistics will increase health service utilisation by
the general population with special attention to the poor, marginalized and
hard-to-reach population, by strengthening the ministry's existing logistics
system in local health facility and community settings. The project will
prioritise 14 districts in the mid-Western and Western regions for
identification, implementation, and scale-up of best practices.
The activity continues
USAID’s decade-long partnership with the ministry to improve the logistics
system in Nepal. The USAID, the ministry and other external development partners
helped to strengthen the logistics 'pull' system – a demand-based nationwide
distribution of health commodities — expand the Web-based Logistics Management
Information System for efficient logistics decision-making, improve the supply
chain management of health and HIV/AIDS commodities; auction off and dispose of
unusable commodities; and make effective warehouse management practices a key
priority to decrease wastage. 
No comments:
Post a Comment