School of Health Sciences, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Private Bag X54001, Durban, 4000, South Africa.
Ministry of Health and Social Services, Windhoek, Namibia.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2023 Aug 2;23(1):823. doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-09790-0.
To achieve well-regulated distribution, storage, and utilization of the rabies vaccine, health facilities should adhere to standard operating procedures. In Namibia, information on inventory management, utilization, monitoring, and reporting of rabies vaccine adherence to standard operating procedures in public healthcare facilities is insufficient. The aim of this study was to assess adherence to rabies vaccine standard operating procedures and inventory management and to compare rabies vaccine expenditure to the number of patients who received rabies vaccination at the Ministry of Health and Social Services' public healthcare facilities from 2018 to 2020.
A cross-sectional, web-based questionnaire consisting of closed-ended questions was sent to 147 pharmacy staff and warehouse managers working in the 14 regions of Namibia during the period of May 1, 2021, to June 2, 2021. The overall expenditure and the total number of patients vaccinated from 2018 to 2020 were obtained from national-level logistic and vaccination program coordinators. Data were coded and transcribed into Microsoft® Excel® 2013 and analyzed using SPSS® version 27.
One hundred and thirty-three completed questionnaires were received from sixty-nine public health centers and hospitals. The group of respondents consisted of pharmacist assistants (50%), pharmacy technicians (12%), pharmacists (36.8%), senior pharmacists (0.8%), and chief pharmacists (1.5%). Overall, adherence to standard operating procedures was poor (27.1%). Rabies vaccine distributed to public health facilities from 2018 to 2020 was worth N$75,381,419.91 (~ US$4,074,671.46) and was expected to vaccinate 87,269 patients; however, only 95 cases of both rabies and rabid dog-bite patients were reported. The major inventory management challenges for public healthcare facilities include an inadequate number of pharmacy staff, poor adherence to standardized pharmaceutical warehousing, lack of regular supervision, and inadequate staff training.
Inventory management practices in public healthcare facilities were not in compliance with standard operating procedures. There is a significant discrepancy between rabies vaccine expenditure and the number of patients that were vaccinated. Therefore, there is a need for adequate staff training on inventory management and regular facility supervision to enforce optimal rabies vaccine inventory management practices.
为实现狂犬病疫苗的规范分发、储存和使用，卫生机构应遵守标准操作规程。在纳米比亚，公共卫生机构中关于狂犬病疫苗库存管理、使用、监测和报告方面遵守标准操作规程的信息不足。本研究旨在评估狂犬病疫苗标准操作规程的遵守情况和库存管理情况，并比较 2018 年至 2020 年期间卫生部和社会服务部公共卫生机构中狂犬病疫苗支出与接受狂犬病疫苗接种的患者人数。
2021 年 5 月 1 日至 6 月 2 日期间，通过网络向纳米比亚 14 个地区的 147 名药剂师和仓库管理人员发送了一份包含封闭式问题的横断面调查问卷。2018 年至 2020 年的总支出和总接种人数从国家级后勤和疫苗接种计划协调员处获得。数据进行编码并转录到 Microsoft®Excel®2013 中，并使用 SPSS®版本 27 进行分析。
从 69 个公共卫生中心和医院收到了 133 份完整的调查问卷。回答者群体包括药剂助理（50%）、药剂技术员（12%）、药剂师（36.8%）、高级药剂师（0.8%）和首席药剂师（1.5%）。总体而言，标准操作规程的遵守情况较差（27.1%）。2018 年至 2020 年分配给公共卫生设施的狂犬病疫苗价值 7538.141991 纳米比亚元（约 407.4671.46 美元），预计可接种 87269 名患者；然而，仅报告了 95 例狂犬病和被疯狗咬伤的患者。公共卫生保健机构在库存管理方面面临的主要挑战包括药剂师人数不足、标准化药品仓储管理不善、缺乏定期监督以及员工培训不足。
公共卫生机构的库存管理做法不符合标准操作规程。狂犬病疫苗支出与接种患者人数之间存在显著差异。因此，需要对库存管理进行充分的员工培训，并对设施进行定期监督，以执行最佳的狂犬病疫苗库存管理做法。
