“The number of clients is increasing but the supplies are reducing”: provider strategies for responding to chronic antiretroviral (ARV) medicines stock-outs in resource limited settings: a qualitative study from Uganda
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Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC health services research
Abstract
Despite the increasing frequency of ARV medicines stock-outs in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is little research inquiring into the mitigation strategies devised by frontline health facilities. Many previous studies have focused on ‘upstream’ or national-level drivers of ARVs stock-outs with less empirical attention devoted ‘downstream’ or at the facility-level. The objective of this study was to examine the strategies devised by health facilities in Uganda to respond to the chronic stock-outs of ARVs. This was a qualitative research design nested within a larger mixed-methods study. We purposively selected 16 health facilities from across Uganda (to achieve diversity with regard to; level of care (primary/ tertiary), setting (rural/urban) and geographic sub-region (northern/ central/western). We conducted 76 Semi-structured interviews with ART clinic managers, clinicians and pharmacists in the selected health facilities supplemented by on-site observations and documentary reviews. Data were analyzed by coding and thematic analyses.
Description
Keywords
Stock-outs, ART, Health systems, Health services, Resource-limited settings, Supply chain management
Citation
Zakumumpa, H., Kiweewa, F. M., Khuluza, F., & Kitutu, F. E. (2019). “The number of clients is increasing but the supplies are reducing”: provider strategies for responding to chronic antiretroviral (ARV) medicines stock-outs in resource-limited settings: a qualitative study from Uganda. BMC health services research, 19(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4137-7