The impact of drug procurement strategy on the availability of cancer drugs in the developing world: A case study of Zimbabwe

There are massive shortages and inconsistent supplies of cancer drugs to the public health sector of many developing countries. The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of the national drug procurement strategy on the availability of cancer drugs in Zimbabwe. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to collect data from various stakeholders and pharmacists in Harare, Zimbabwe. A total of 84 usable questionnaires from a sample of 100 were returned; and this was augmented by data from 16 in depth interviews with key informants selected from judgmental sample based on their specialized knowledge of the subject matter

The major finding is that the pharmaceutical procurement strategy has been effective over the past years. The adoption of the multicurrency system in 2009, led to a huge improvement in the operations of the national pharmaceuticals procurement company. In terms of affordability it was established that the chemotherapy drugs at public health institutions were affordable. The research also established that the Government has greater control of the pharmaceuticals procurement system in Zimbabwe, through various state controlled organizations. The results from the surveys also indicated that the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were critical factors that were considered by pharmaceutical procurement managers in Zimbabwe.

The main recommendation from the research is that less procurement complexity can produce higher customer service in terms of reduced stock shortages, while keeping costs down. By reducing lead times and uncertainty, increasing order frequencies, and moving order points and safety stocks, there may be better integration between information and goods flows and bottlenecks in the procurement system