Availability of selected key essential rdf medicine at Selected public helth facilities in jimma zone

Abstract

Background: Essential medicines are medicines that satisfy the priority health care needs of the population. These medicines are intended to be available within the context of functioning health systems at all times in adequate amounts, in the appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality and adequate information, and at a price, the individual and the community can afford. This study was aimed to assess the availability of essential medicines at public health facilities and identifying areas where improvement is required. Objectives: Assessing and determining factors affecting availability of selected key medicine at public health facilities of Jimma zone, Ethiopia. Methods: In this study, a cross-sectional survey complemented with a qualitative method was conducted at five hospital and 14 health centers in the Jimma Zone. Mainly the study evaluated the availability of essential medicines with in the last six month and on the day of visit. The quantitative data were encoded to SPSS V.21 software and descriptive statistical analysis was used to determine frequency counts, averages, and percentages. Nineteen in-depth interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data, and the analysis was summarized using thematic analysis. Result: Availability of key essential medicine at selected public health facilities in Jimma zone lies between the ranges of high (>80) at hospitals and fairly high (>50-80) at health centers with the exception of Amoxicillin 250mg/5ml and Glucose 40%.The low availability of Amoxicillin 250mg/5ml and glucose 40% were due to the irregularity and less availability of the product at the supplier level. As these medicines are key essential medicines, their absence largely influence quality of service delivery and client’s satisfaction. The study also reviled that in some cases, there are variation in the availability of medicines with different dosage and formulation. Lack of access to basic infrastructure, distance of public health facilities from EPSA Jimma hub, lack of commitment from the drug therapeutics committee, inappropriate forecasting and selection procedure, lead time between order and supply of the medicines, and unstandardized storage condition and a lack of pharmacy professionals were are the main challenges. Conclusion and recommendation: The main reasons for unavailability of these medicines are irregularity and less availability of the product at the supplier level. Key informants also reported that, access to basic infrastructure, distance of public health facilities from EPSA Jimma hub, lack of commitment from the drug therapeutics committee, inappropriate forecasting and selection procedure, lead time between order and supply of the medicines, and unstandardized storage condition and gap in capacity of pharmaceutical professionals were the main challenges. In collaboration with different stakeholders, zonal administration and health bureau should work on enhancement of access to basic facilities. EPSA Jimma hub should improve availability of key essential medicines with the objective of increasing quality of service delivery and client’s satisfaction