Assessment of medicine supply management at primary health care facilities in a rural district of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

The introduction of National Health Insurance (NHI) and the Ideal Clinic Monitoring System have highlighted gaps and challenges with regard to medicine supply management (MSM) at primary health care (PHC) facilities. PHC facilities are the first point of contact communities have for their health needs, however, frequent stock-outs of medicines at PHC facilities in uMkhanyakude district, a rural district in KwaZulu-Natal, and have raised questions as to how medicine stock is managed at these facilities.