Evaluation of the Extent of Knowledge and Implementation Practices of Supply Chain Management by Community Pharmacists in Anambra State

Abstract

Community pharmacies make pharmaceutical products accessible to a large population of people in the society and to achieve this role efficiently, there should be sufficient knowledge and practices on supply chain management by the community pharmacists. The main objective is to evaluate the extent of knowledge and implementation of supply chain management practices among community pharmacists in Anambra State, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out from May 2018 to August 2018. One hundred and fifty-four self administered questionnaires were distributed conveniently during the quarterly annual meeting of the Association of Community Pharmacists in Nigeria, (ACPN), Anambra State chapter. Data analysis was done with SPSS version 25. The demographic characteristics of the respondents were analyzed descriptively using frequency figures, while inferential statistics on relationship and comparison between demographics and other variables was done using Chi-square. There was a relatively good knowledge of supply chain practices among the participants, but they were deficient in their responses on implementation (45%). The participants demonstrated good practice of the different inventory methods such as First-Expire First-Out (FEFO) and Max-Min systems. The outcome of the finding also showed that those participants with Bachelor to pharmacy as their highest education qualification have a low level of knowledge on out-of-stock of essential health commodities at a p-value of 0.003. The study revealed a poor implementation of Supply Chain Management practices despite the adequate knowledge exhibited by the community pharmacists.