Zimbabwe will soon benefit from an expanded pharmaceutical storage space following Global Fund support towards the construction of 22 000 pallets capacity warehouse in Harare.
Officiating at the warehouse’s ground breaking ceremony on Wednesday, Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa said the main Harare Pharmaceutical facility will be part of a network of warehouses that Global Fund is supporting.
“The construction of this facility demonstrates the Zimbabwean government and Global Fund’s commitment to improving the well-being of all citizens,
“The investment here will help ensure that Zimbabwe as a country has the pharmaceutical warehouse infrastructure that meets international standards to efficiently store medicines and other pharmaceutical products which will provide good health care and save lives,
“This Harare warehouse will help NatPharm (National Pharmaceutical Company) to optimize its logistical structures and processes,” said Parirenyatwa.
He went on to say customers will benefit from higher product availability, shorter delivery times and more efficient processes.
The new warehouse has a large storing capacity which will ensure that medicines are available in Zimbabwe at all times.
“Now that we are going to have 22 000 pallets from the current warehouse capacity which only holds 2 400 pallets, it’s a big warehouse, state of the art and completely air conditioned,
“Construction of such a facility will take approximately 18 months and is set to start soon. As you can see preparatory work has already begun,
“The new complex will be equipped with state of the art equipment, IT systems and sound security systems. With such an investment, we are guaranteed of an efficient management of stocks by NatPharm,” added Parirenyatwa.
Speaking at the same event, Mark Edington, Global Fund, Head of Grant Management said the construction of the new NatPharm warehouse was long overdue and is of importance to the supply chain.
“We are here celebrating the ground breaking of the new NatPharm warehouse, it was long awaited for,
“The supply chain is about getting the right logistics, right balance between having enough stock and too much stock such that you end up having expires,
“So in as much as we are here celebrating the new warehouse, there is still a lot to be done and we are ready to help the government of Zimbabwe to have that strong vision of a strong supply chain,” he said.
