The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) have combined efforts to ensure efficient vaccine stock management by rolling out the supply chain management system called LOGISTIMO.

CIDRZ working in collaboration with MoH Child Health Unit through the Expanded Programmes on Immunisations, has supported LOGISTIMO rollout to health facility level in Southern and Western province side-by-side the  last mile distribution of vaccines in Southern province. This support is a major program deliverable meant to achieve an optimised immunisation supply chain system under the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi). LOGISTIMO was initially utilised at the national, provincial and district level before being rolled out to health facility level. The project also supported the health facilities with tablets to support Logistimo use.

The training which was practical in nature to ensure hands on experience for the new users has benefited health care providers from thirteen (13) districts in southern province including Chikankata, Choma, Gwembe, Kalomo, Kazungula, Livingstone, Mazabuka, Monze, Namwala, Pemba, Siavonga, Sinazongwe and Zimba districts.

The training which comes barely weeks after Health Minister Sylvia Masebo issued a directive during the Pharmaceutical Society of Zambia -PSZ- conference in Livingstone, “that shortages of medicines in government hospitals must come to an end,” comes in handy as this system supplements governments efforts at ensuring consistent supply of vaccines and medicines.

Meanwhile Ms Bwalya Mutale Sakala who is the M&E Coordinator under the Expanded Programme on Immunisation – Optimisation (EPI-OPT) program which facilitated this training under CIDRZ with MOH Child Health Unit (MOH-CHU) said this application is being used at National, Provincial and District levels for vaccine ordering and stock management. “From this training facilities will now be able to electronically make vaccine orders from district hubs and manage their stocks within their facilities,” said Ms Bwalya.

And speaking on behalf of the trained health staff, Kahumbu Mayaba Chilala, an Environmental Health Officer at Mugoto health facility which is under Mazabuka District thanked CIDRZ and MOH for funding the program that will help them monitor performance and help provide better services to clients and the community at large.

She explained that at her facility, where she is in charge of children immunisation, the facility conducts static and outreach services that shall benefit from this system in the sense that vaccines and dry material stock levels and stock status shall now be monitored electronically at all levels starting from the facility to the district and provincial levels using simple gadgets such us tablets and phones which will help them not to run out of stock.

And the facilitation officer and trainer Mr Guissimon Phiri who is also the Chief EPI Logistician- MOH Child Health Unit (MOH-CHU) explained that the application was designed to work in low-resource environments to accord users everywhere throughout the value chain with access to simple tools, useful data, and effective methods to organise and interact. “It has a lot of features for managing inventory, orders, forecasting demand and optimising inventory availability. Additionally, the system enables users to carry out transactions such as issuing, receiving, physical counting, discarding, ordering and fulfilling orders”, said Mr Phiri.

Mr Phiri further explained that both the web and mobile apps have these features, as well as interactive dashboards. More importantly, there are several capabilities that enable simple data collection, effective information exchange, and descriptive and predictive analytics insights.

He said the system is incredibly long-lasting, and it can be customised to a user’s abilities and digital infrastructure. It can work offline, and later synchronise the stock movement transactions to the saver once the user gets online on 2G or higher mobile networks, and via SMS, ensuring reliable data transmission over unstable networks. Responsive online and mobile interfaces support computers, mobile phones, tablets, and large-screen digital monitors.