Federal Ministry of Health on Tuesday inaugurated 10-man Technical Committee on Implementation of Stock Visibility Solution (SVS) to improve the supply chain management in the health sector.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, inaugurated the committee in Abuja.
Adewole said the term of reference of the committee was to determine the technical requirements for the implementation of SVS in all states of the federation and the FCT.
He added that the committee should set up functional national database with board in the 36 states and the FCT, as well as the Federal Ministry of Health, among others.
He noted that SVS would allow clinics and dispensaries to report on stock levels of
their shelves through a custom-built mobile application.
He added that SVS would synchronise in real time to a cloud-housed server that would automate alerts and reports for the benefits of various levels of supply chain management in Nigeria.
The minister said the solution would allow government to monitor from last mile point down to the ministry.
He explained that “it will also help the ministry to determine what is needed at the end point and enable government to avoid challenges of the past where essential drugs expired without getting people to know.
“It is a comprehensive approach to ensure that things are done properly and enables re-stock and re-supply of facilities, as well as ensures that commodities that constitutes key components of the health system are available.”
The minister noted that through SVS, Federal Ministry of Health would have access to granular stock level data from the last mile.
Mr Lanre Kolade, the Managing Director, Vodacom Business Nigeria, partner in the initiative, said the solution, when deployed, would ensure availability of essential medicines across the country.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Clement Uwaifo, also the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, pledged the committee’s determination to deliver on its terms of reference.