Procurement Practices Influencing Availability of Drugs at Public Healthcare Facilities

Healthcare is the provision of maintenance, curative and preventive care. It involves medical procedures using medicines and medical supplies to treat and cure illnesses, diseases, and other physical and mental impairments in people. To provide effective treatment; medicines and medical supplies should always be available at health facilities. Malaysia public healthcare facilities are faced with challenges in providing sustainable drug supply to meet the ever-increasing healthcare demand. Therefore, the aim of this study is to establish factors influencing drug shortages in the internal environment in public healthcare facilities in Malaysia. Total of 107 respondents (92.2 %) took part in the questionnaire. Respondents were mainly female pharmacists managing procurement and drug supply. The main factors influencing drug availability in Malaysia are human resource management, procurement processes and logistics.