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The National Department of Health (NDoH) and Vodacom have successfully deployed a custom-built mobile application (app) in 3126 primary health care (PHC) clinics across South Africa, to monitor medicine availability and reduce drug stock-outs. The Stock Visibility System (SVS), is a mobile platform developed through collaborative efforts between Vodacom and NDoH and stems from the  long-standing partnership between the two. SVS is deployed at PHC clinics across the country including facilities in deep rural areas in South African.

Speaking at the media launch of the SVS mobile application in Midrand, Minister of Health Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, says: “The Department of Health is using the latest technology to improve health care service delivery and patient outcomes in South Africa. The Stock Visibility System enables us to increase access to medicine by allowing the Department of Health to monitor the distribution of medicines and take appropriate pro-active action anytime, anywhere.” The system provides real-time visibility of stock levels in clinics which empowers evidence-based management of the medicines supply chain system. This will ensure that South Africans have improved access to essential medicines and the healthcare services they need.

The NDoH first partnered with the Vodacom in 2013 to develop and deploy SVS to provide critical operational information about the supply chain network in South Africa. Prior to the development of the app, the NDoH relied on manual processes to avail medicine availability information pertinent to PHC clinics. The system was initially piloted at all PHC clinics in Kwazulu-Natal (605 clinics) and Limpopo (478 clinics) in 2014 and 2015 respectively and was used to monitor the availability of all antiretroviral, tuberculosis and vaccine stock items. These pilots aimed to, amongst other aspects, establish an understanding of the enabling factors that must be addressed for SVS to support medicine replenishment management at PHC level with the ultimate aim of improving medicine availability. Over the 2014 and 2015 period, the overall number of stock-outs reported in KwaZulu-Natal decreased by 46%, 49% and 14% for ARVs, TB medicines and vaccines respectively. Similarly in Limpopo the overall decrease in the number of reported stock-outs during 2015 for ARVs, TB medicines and vaccines was 66%, 49% and 42% respectively.

Vodacom Business Chief Executive Mr Vuyani Jarana says: “Mobile technology remains a powerful tool for us to successfully address South Africa’s healthcare challenges and the proliferation of smartphones in particular is changing the notion of healthcare delivery. The Department of Health approached Vodacom to develop a system to remedy stock-out challenges. Vodacom responded with an innovative mobile application that is now being used to further social good in our country by improving the delivery of quality healthcare to all South Africans. This is an example of public-private collaboration at its best and we will continue to invest in technology and partner with key stakeholders to make a difference in healthcare delivery.”

The SVS allows PHC clinic staff to report record stock levels and translates this information into various reports, sent via SMS or email, which include graphs and heat maps and are utilized to support the pro-active management of medicines. The app also allows for scheduled SMS notifications and automated alerts warning of low-stock level situations which may result in supply interruptions thereby providing a means of preventing stock-outs from happening in the first place.

"Proper stock management is essential for providing medicines to patients when and where they need them," said Bada Pharasi, Management Sciences for Health (MSH) Country Representative. "This is especially important for people living with HIV because treatment is a lifelong commitment and adherence is critical to good health outcomes. RxSolution® is an electronic pharmaceutical management system designed to manage medicine supplies from procurement to dispensing. It has impacted positively on the daily practices of hospital pharmacy staff, who have expressed satisfaction in the way they have managed to reduce patient waiting times, among other benefits."

South Africa has the world’s largest antiretroviral treatment (ART) programme with an estimated 3.1 million people who are receiving treatment as of the end of March 2015. With the new “Test and Treat” antiretroviral (ARV) treatment strategy announced by Dr Motsoaledi in May this year, the expected increase in patients receiving ARVs will undoubtedly place further pressure on the country’s medicine supply systems to deliver the volumes of treatment needed to cater for our people's treatment needs. This innovation comes at an opportune moment when South Africa requires advanced technological solutions to address its challenges.

Issued by NDOH in partnership with Vodacom