E-DRUG: Computerised Systems for Medical Stores
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Dear Colleagues,
In July 2005 Euro Health Group asked if anyone was interested in participating in a questionnaire on computerised inventory management systems for medical stores. Ten countries responded, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa.
Of the systems in use, eight (Zimbabwe, Uganda, Mozambique, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Namibia, Grenada and Tanzania) involve the implementation of one single package, and two (Malawi and South Africa) are combinations of packages. The respondents included three vendors of systems, mSupply (Nepal), i-Logistics (South Africa) and Sigmed (The Netherlands).
The responses were tabulated. Respondents were asked to confirm the information in May 2006 as a considerable amount of time had lapsed between sending out the questionnaire, obtaining feedback and analysing the results.
Our conclusion, from this brief overview, is that there is no one single system that dominates any medical store. The systems selected have tended to be small, less mature systems, rather than mature, international, well known systems. Choosing small, less mature systems often results in running a higher risk but paying a lower price, the latter may well be the main reason for their selection.
Eight of the ten countries needed some form of local support whether it was through a local consulting company or through some form of communication (vpn) to assist with the implementation. There is clearly a need for this. We believe that when selecting a system it is important to ensure that it is supported locally.
A full version of the table is available to anyone who is interested. Please contact: Jette Ramlose of Euro Health Group on jramlose@ehg.dk <mailto:jramlose@ehg.dk>
Regards
Per Kronslev/ Val Remedios
Eurohealth Group
Tinghojvej 77
2860 Soborg
Denmark
tel: +45-39547595/696888
fax: +45-39695888
"Valerie Remedios" <vremedios@ehg.dk>
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