Assessment of Pharmaceutical Warehouse Management Practice: The Case of Private Pharmaceutical Wholesalers in Ethiopia

Proper storage conditions for pharmaceutical products and paramedical supplies are crucial to maintaining their quality, safety, and efficacy. Poor warehouse management practice may lead to wastage or blockade of financial resources, irrational utilization of drugs, shortage, or overage of essential medicines among many others. The current study aimed to assess the warehouse management practice of private pharmaceutical wholesalers in Gondar, Ethiopia. The study utilized an institution-based cross-sectional study method. The data was collected using a checklist adapted from the Logistics Indicators Assessment Tool (LIAT) developed by the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT and was analyzed using SPSS version 22. Descriptive analysis was conducted and results were presented using tables and figures. A total of five pharmaceutical wholesalers were surveyed. All of the surveyed entities were managing both medicines as well as other medical supplies, and they were supplying their products to both public and private health facilities. The majority of the facilities 4(80%) reported that they were using the Professional Electronic Data System (PEDS) for the management of pharmaceutical products in the warehouse. The overall put away/ storage performance of the facilities was 68.75%, which can be regarded as poor (<80%). All of the facilities lack sufficient product handling equipment for unloading and moving the incoming goods. In conclusion, the overall warehouse management practice at the private pharmaceutical wholesalers was found to be poor. Shortage of product handling equipment and inadequate layout of the warehouses were the two most common problem areas identified that need major improvement.