An assessment of the strategies for mitigating pharmaceutical supply chain disruption during covid -19 at the Central Medical Stores Namibia
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Date
2022
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the public sector pharmaceutical
supply chain in Namibia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the strategies
for mitigating pharmaceutical supply chain disruption during COVID-19 using
Central Medical Stores Namibia as a case study. The study employed a case study
design to intensively explore the research area. Unstructured interviews were
conducted with seven pharmacists from Central Medical Stores who were purposively selected. Data was analysed using thematic analysis with aid of
ATLAS.ti software. The study found that there needs to be government intervention
to encourage local manufacturing, international intervention to prevent hording of
pharmaceuticals by rich nations, adoption of long-term procurement contracts, establishing good communication with suppliers, having sufficient budget for
pharmaceuticals, training employees in supply chain management and adequate
storage space in order to mitigate pharmaceutical supply chain challenges at the
Central Medical Stores during COVID-19. The study recommends that the
government should encourage local manufacturing to reduce heavy reliance on
foreign countries, adequate funds should be budgeted for the CMS, the CMS
warehouse should be upgraded, training in pharmaceutical supply chain management should be offered to CMS employees, long term procurement contracts should be adopted, government should provide logistical support to the CMS and the CMS should improve communication with suppliers
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration (Management Strategy)
Keywords
Covid 19, Central Medical Store, Pharmaceutical supply