Logistics Data Collection and Reporting for Essential Medicines in Developing Countries: A Review

The aim of this review was to analyze the impact of interventions designed to standardize collection and reporting of logistics data for managing essential medicines in developing countries. Literature was identified from searches of Medline, EMBASE and Web of Science until March 2011. Other relevant publications were identified from websites of organizations working in the study area and contacts working in the field. The search identified a total of 358 articles out of which 11 were selected for inclusion. All articles were before and after analysis without control areas. Standardizing the collection and reporting of logistics data through automation (full or partial) and manual tools resulted in improvements on the availability of quality logistics data for supply chain decision-making, and continual availability of essential medicines. Use of mobile technologies resulted in low error rates in forecasting and demand planning, and significantly reduced decision lead time. The findings from this review suggest that standardization of collection and reporting of logistics data to support decision-making on essential medicine supply can lead to improvements on availability and quality of logistics data and availability of essential medicines. However there is need for more robust experimental and quasi-experimental studies on the topic.
Source: Journal of Health Management - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Articles Source Type: research