12 December 2017, Tunis – In strengthening efforts aimed at enhancing the capacity of health personnel and improve access to medical supplies in Libya, the European Union-funded WHO project “Strengthening Health Information System and Medical Supply Chain Management (SHAMS)” is conducting an introductory training workshop on pharmaceutical inventory management from 11 to 15  December 2017 at the WHO Libya Office in Tunis.

The 29 participants attending are operational personnel from all regions of Libya: Benghazi, Zliten, Sabha and Tripoli. Representatives are from medical supply organization warehouses, various hospitals pharmacy departments, the Libyan FDA, and the NCDC. All are involved in aspects of stock management and are committed to improving access to medical supplies in Libya. 

The workshop includes an introductory training on a WHO Logistics Support System Software (LSS) conducted by WHO experts. The main objective is to improve access to essential medicines.

Introducing the LSS software to the Libyan supply chain management would not only provide a solution for inventory management but would also strengthen other critical activities of the supply chain such as quantifying the needs of medicines and enhancing quality of data. 

This training is timely and particularly important as the Libyan health system is currently facing challenges related to:

• access to medicines

• basic institutional capacity in managing the supply chain 

• irregular procurement practices 

• lack of information system for evidence-based decision-making

• stock outs.

Technology can be a game changer in maximizing efficiencies up and down the medical supply chain, from estimating procurement needs to ensuring prompt delivery of essential medicines and supplies. Yet even the most cutting-edge tools can be rendered ineffective without trained staff to use and maintain them. The current training workshop is contributing to the creation of a pool of well trained staff as part of the” SHAMS” project commitment to enhancing capacity of key personnel on various components of the medical supply chain.