Abstract:
Availing quality essential medicines is a wish for every health supply chain player. Appropriate
storage conditions are fundamental to maintain the quality and stability of medicines and this is
why temperature, humidity, ventilation and other storage conditions must be monitored in a
pharmaceutical warehouse. To check how pharmaceutical products in Rwanda are stored, a
concerning study was conceived.
The study was a descriptive-Analytical research where the actual status of storage of
pharmaceutical products in Rwanda were described and checked for compliance with Good
Storage Practices (GSPs) and manufacturers recommended storage conditions. Ten
representative district pharmacies out of thirty and RBC/MPPD warehouses were selected to
participate in the study. Questionnaire, check list on warehouse premises layout and records of
temperature and humidity for the last three years (2016-2018) were used as source of data.
We found that in Rwanda, we have warehouse premises but designed as residential houses for
habitation so space is insufficient and they are not well equipped as required by the
pharmaceutical warehouse. They are not ventilated, pharmaceutical products are exposed to
direct sunlight, devices in cold rooms are not calibrated, temperature monitoring is not done
during holydays and weekend at district pharmacies, staffs working in warehouse are using
academic background others have been trained long time ago, products in cartons are stacked not
respecting Good Storage Practices, at district pharmacies they do not monitor relative humidity,
there is a lack of cool storage condition ( i.e.8oC to 15oC) in the hall country, dispatching area is
not separated with receiving area in all district pharmacies, there is lack of equipment for rifting
heavy loads at district pharmacies, there is easy access to pharmaceutical products in the
warehouse because there is no security precautions,
As conclusion, we found that pharmaceutical products warehouses are available but there are
many weaknesses needing improvements and establishment of some features which are absent.
Also, a quick corrective and appropriate actions are needed to save products which are at risk of
vi
degradation because of poor monitoring of required storage conditions or recommended by the
manufacturers.
