Geographic information system as a tool for enriching drug logistics information at district level in malawi: challenges on data quality

A well-functioning logistics management information system (LMIS) provides decision makers throughout a supply chain with accurate, timely, and appropriate data for managing and monitoring flow of supplies, accounting for products in supply chain, reducing supply imbalances, and improving cost-effectiveness but LMIS, whether manual or automated, seems to be one of the weakest links in the logistics chain in developing countries. District pharmacies in Malawi use a computerised information system to monitor the flow of products from a warehouse to health service delivery points and determine understocked or overstocked products at each health facility. Currently, all drug logistics information reports are in tabular forms. The Geographic Information System (GIS) can help health and drug logistics officers to get additional spatial information, such as locations of health facilities and environmental factors, to the existing reports in the form of maps. This paper discusses some challenges on quality of drug logistics data for decision making with emphasis on place and time utilities. It could be very important to use also maps from the GIS to enrich existing information especially when place and time are concerned since these utilities are very critical in logistics.