Logistics
International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Print ISSN: 2656-0097 | Online ISSN: 0975-1491 Vol 16, Issue 1, 2024 Original Article LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: HUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITY AND TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT OF PHARMACISTS IN NIGERIA NAE MOHAMMED1 , OA FALABI2 , UG OKAFOR1* , IB AHMED1 , MU BALA3 , F. MUONEMEH4 ANUKWU5 , KC ONUEGBU5 , AN OKEKE6 , NN WANNANG7 , IK 1Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, Idu, Abuja. 2Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, National Secretariat, Anthony, Lagos. 3Ministry of Health, Katsina State, Nigeria. 4Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group-Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. 5Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria. 6Africa Resource Centre for Excellence in Supply Chain Management, Abuja. 7West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists, Yaba, Lagos *Corresponding author: Ug Okafor; *Email: [email protected] Received: 06 Oct 2023, Revised and Accepted: 16 Nov 2023 ABSTRACT Objective: Logistics and supply chain management have received global attention since the early 1980s, but this concept is thought to st ill be unpopular in Nigeria as very little literature exists on it, especially in the pharmaceutical sector. This paper, therefore set out to investigate the human resource capacity and the needs assessment of pharmacists in Nigeria as regards logistics and supply chain management. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among pharmacists in Nigeria. A total of 873 pharmacists participated in the study. A wellstructured questionnaire was produced, validated, and administered to the registered pharmacists. Results: Out of the 873 retrieved questionnaires, 21 copies were not completely filled and were therefore discarded; hence the 852 completely filled questionnaires were taken as the number of participants in the study. The survey shows that out of the 51.76% pharmacists who have acquired trainings, 18.2% were exposed to supply chain management by virtue of their workplace, while 30.9% were self-trained through conferences and workshops. Also, 98.8% of the respondents were ready to be trained in this emerging field in Nigeria, with only 1.2% declining any interest in supply chain management training. Conclusion: These findings show that there is a low provision for proactive education on supply chain management for pharmacists. However , there is a promising opportunity to introduce such training as the majority of the respondents were receptive to such an innovation. This study may, therefore be useful for policymakers and health professionals to chart the path for the future to ensure adequate and proper delivery of medicines and other health commodities. Keywords: Supply chain, Capacity, Training needs, Assessment © 2024 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.22159/ijpps.2024v16i1.49568. Journal homepage: https://innovareacademics.in/journals/index.php/ijpps INTRODUCTION Logistics and supply chain management have received global attention since the early 1980s, but this concept seems to be unpopular in Nigeria, especially in the pharmaceutical sector. Amidst Nigeria’s poor drug distribution system, the concept of logistics and supply chain management is made worse with an attendant risk to the populace. Unfortunately, this is not particularly well understood, and to worsen matters, pertinent policies are webbed in misconstrued dynamics [1, 2]. Logistics and Supply Chain are erroneously interchanged to mean the same thing. While logistics focuses on the product flow, supply chain, on the other hand, refers to all actors in the provision of a particular product to its end user, including the manufacturer, distributor, logistics team, and even the end users [3]. Looking further at Supply Chain Management, Kathawala and Abdou [4] referred to the concept as the flow of goods and products from their state in the raw form to their consumption, as well as associated information flows. In reality, the supply chain network can be very complex, requiring a number of steps that must be taken to ensure that medications are available and accessible to patients [6]. To this end, competent and well-trained health workers are essential for the delivery of quality health services and there are stakeholders involved in ensuring that patients get the right medicines at the right time. These include manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retail/community pharmacists, and other aspects of the supply chain. The National Drug Policy stated that only duly licensed pharmacists shall have the authority to supply, sell, and dispense medicines to the public while permitting certain over-the-counter medicines to be sold in patent medicine shops operated by licensed pharmacy technicians [7]. A consideration of this policy makes the importance of a pharmacist in drug supply chain management apparent. Yet, prior to 2021, logistics and supply chain management courses were not adequately captured in the undergraduate pharmacy curriculum. Also, several studies have reported health supply chain knowledge and skills gaps among pharmacists in Nigeria. To this end, this study was conducted to ascertain the level of supply chain knowledge and skills of Nigerian pharmacists and assess their training needs. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study type Cross-sectional study Study population and settings The research was carried out among pharmacists in Nigeria. The minimum sample size was calculated to be 389 and the majority of the respondents were recruited during the annual national conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, while the others were recruited via the respective state coordinators of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN). Study period Eligibility criteria Participants were included if they were pharmacists residing in Nigeria N. Mohammed et al. Int J Pharm Pharm Sci, Vol 16, Issue 1, 18-21 Exclusion criteria Potential participants were excluded if they were intern pharmacists, pharmacists undergoing the mandatory national 12month youth service scheme, and pharmacists who refused to give their consent or withdrew their consent at any point. Ethical consideration The study was approved by the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria Research Committee, Ref. No: PCN/PRS/305/T 11. There was no conduction of review protocols as the research did not involve the acquisition of personal or contact details of respondents and also did not involve any institution. Data collection A well-structured questionnaire was produced and administered to the registered pharmacists who were lucidly informed about the background and objectives of the study, after which their consent to partake in the study was obtained individually. Respondents were informed that they were free to withdraw for any reason and that every piece of information provided would be treated with anonymity and confidentiality. The questionnaires were divided into socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge and experience of logistics and supply chain management, respondents’ practice field and training needs. Statistical analysis The analysis of study data employed primarily univariate and multivariate regression methods. Also, *P
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