Factors affecting health supply chain performance in public health facilities at Pemba island, Tanzania

Abstract

Background: In the health aspect among the essential components is the health supply chain, encompassing the movement of information, goods, services, and resources to meet customer needs. Effective health supply chain performance ensures that health commodities are available in quantity and quality at the right time, thereby improving patient outcomes. However, many developing countries, including Tanzania, face challenges to have effective health supply chain, which leads to inadequate healthcare delivery and rising patient demand. This study focuses on Pemba Island, Tanzania, where health supply chain performance remains challenging due to various influencing factors. Objective: This study aims to determine the factors affecting health supply chain performance in public health facilities at Pemba Island, Tanzania, as the main objective. Methodology: The cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in public health facilities across Pemba Island, Tanzania. The study population includes healthcare professionals directly involved in the health supply chain; the sample size was 70 public health facilities with one respondent in each facility. Slovin’s formula was used to calculate a representative sample size for each district. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires, on-site visits and interviews. The collected data were pre-tested for validity and reliability and analysed using descriptive statistics in STATA version 15.1. Ethical considerations were adhered to, with approvals obtained from relevant institutional review boards and consent from participants. Results: Among the assessed health facilities in Pemba, observed supply chain performance was

50.0%. A higher proportion of facilities in Kusini Pemba (70.3%) were classified as having above- average performance compared to Kaskazini Pemba (27.3%), and the difference was statistically

significant (Chi-square = 12.9, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The regional disparities, human resource challenges and logistical inefficiencies found in this study should be addressed to improve supply chain performance in Pemba public health facilities.