By Chioma
Umeha
To ensure provision of safe and cost
effective drugs among other health care commodities, the Lagos State Government
through its Ministry of Health has inaugurated the Local Government Logistics
Management Coordinating Units (LLMCU).
The units, a sub-structure of Local
Government Area focal officers, were created to organise, monitor, and
support all health logistics activities from the health facilities in the local
government areas to the state level and would be responsible for the
coordinated collection and collation of data from Primary Health Care Centres.
Dr. Olufemi Onanuga, Special Adviser to the
Governor on Primary Health Care, who inaugurated the LLMCU in Ikeja Tuesday
noted that Nigeria was being faced with some challenges of procurement and supply
management activities.
He added that the challenges include poor
supply chain and demand management, high stock out rates, high wastages through
expiration and poor visibility of procurement and supply chain management
leading to suboptimal outcomes.
He said, “These challenges led to the
creation of the Nigeria Supply Chain Integration Project (NSCIP) of the
National Product Supply Chain Management Programme (NPSCMP) which is charged
with the responsibility to institutionalise and strengthen the framework for an
integrated, effective and efficient supply chain of health commodities.”
Onanuga explained that any government that
fails to ensure provision of safe, and cost effective drugs amongst other
health care services would be seen to be shirking in its duty as an efficient
and effective health care provider, stressing that the provision of medicines
is critical to quality health care delivery.
“The Lagos State Government is irrevocably
committed towards sustaining a vibrant healthcare to its teaming population and
this is demonstrated with the massive upgrades of General Hospitals and Primary
Healthcare Centres across the state, in keeping with the avowed commitment of
the Governor to raise and sustain the confidence in public healthcare service
delivery,” the Special Adviser said.
While thanking the Federal Ministry of
Health and other implementing partners for helping to develop a robust supply
chain management system in the state, Onanuga assured that the state government
would continue to collaborate with relevant Federal Government Ministries and
Agencies as well as development partners to improve health systems
strengthening and ensure that clients are continuously provided with quality
health care using deployed resources efficiently and effectively.
Earlier, Dr. Moyosore Adejumo, the Director,
Pharmaceutical Services in the Ministry of Health, stated that the key
objective of the National Product Supply Chain Management Programme which
begets the Logistics Managements Coordinating Units at the state, local
government and health facility levels is to ensure the continuous availability
of public health commodities at the national, state, LGA and health facility
levels through interdependence and collaboration between all the supply chain
actors in-country.
“The leadership of the State Ministry of
Health in keeping with the lofty objectives for a better supply chain
management system in the country inaugurated the State Logistics Management
Coordinating Unit which is domiciled under the Directorate of Pharmaceutical
Services in March 2014,”she added.
Adejumo explained that Local Government
LMCUs would be responsible for the transmission of the aggregated logistics
data from health facilities that are not electronically enabled within the LGA
to state LMCU, adding that the LLMCU would promote coordination and
interdependence across all existing public health programmes operating within
the LGA.
Speaking in the same vein, Mrs. Talhatu
Kazeem, the representative of the Nigeria Supply Chain Integration Project,
stated that all hands must be on deck to ensure that the Local Government LMCUs
get all the support it deserves.
“Most critically would be the support and
buy-in of all the stakeholders at the local government and in the health
facilities. The state is also expected to play a critical role of mentoring as
we expect that they provide exemplary leadership to duplicate work done in the
local government,” she stressed.
