Availability of Essential Medicines for Obstetric Care at Selected Primary Health Facilities in Central Java Province, Indonesia

Abstract

This study aims to assess the availability of essential medicines for obstetric care in terms of percentage of drugs available within one month, number of drugs with out of stock, volume and nominal value of expired drugs, and to determine factors affecting its availability. Records and stock cards of 32 essential medicines in 2017 were reviewed from 28 primary health centers in Central Java Province, Indonesia. The data were collected using checklist form as main tool and presented descriptively. Our study highlighted that the availability of essential drugs for obstetric care was 75.56%, 73.56%, and 96.95% for antibiotics, live saving, and supplement classes respectively. Overall, the percentage out-of stock was 22.35%. About 46.87% of total item was out of stock for more than 30 days. Volume of expired drugs was as amount as 15 items, with nominal value of expired drugs was worth as 970 USD in one year. Factors affecting drug availability were inadequate staffs, inconsistency of e-procurement systems and lack of training. The availability of essential medicines seemed to be lower than international standard as suggested by WHO. It is recommended to improve procurement system integratively and provide adequate training for staffs, in order to enhance provision of availability of essential medicines in public health facilities.