…as sponsored Phd candidate graduates
The Learn Logistics – Kuehne Foundation has sponsored the training and Ph.D programme of Dr Oyenuga Olamilekan, with the aim of improving and promoting logistics and supply chain management in the Nigerian health sector.
Prof. Kolawole Oyedeji, University of Lagos-LEARN Logistic programme Coordinator, made this known during the Thank You Convoke of Olamilekan on Wednesday in Lagos.
The programme was sponsored in collaboration with the Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Department of Business Administration, UNILAG.
Oyedeji explained that the collaboration came as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Foundation and UNILAG.
He decried a situation where, often times, vaccines, HIV kits and alike, are usually dispensed to patients after they might have expired or about to expire.
According to him, the objective was to raise professionals to advance health logistics and supply chain management to ensure ready availability and prompt dispensation of medical consumables.
He added that the collaboration had metamorphosed to LEARN Logistics to support the advancement of the postgraduate diploma curriculum to Masters and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) levels.
He said that it had also led to jointly organised workshops in Logistics and Supply Chain Management (SCM) that supported UNILAG to address research and training capacity gaps.
“Therefore, this gathering was planned to say a BIG THANK YOU to all who made this possible.
“That is why we plan to honour most of the people who supported the programme.
“Most of the healthcare supplies, especially vaccines and HIV kits are usually brought out and dispensed to people when they are almost expiring. This is not supposed to be.
“So, the idea is to improve health logistics and supply chain management so that medical consumables will be made readily available and timely supplied/dispensed,” Oyedeji said.
Prof. Ibrahim Shonubi, Dean, School of Post-graduate Studies, UNILAG, described the qualification as “unique and first of its kind.
According to him, this is the first time of producing a Ph.D holder specifically in Logistics and Supply Chain Management in Health Sector.
“This is the first time we are having Ph.D holder specifically in Logistics and Supply Chain Management in Health Sector – that’s combining management sciences together with logistics in health.
“You can have logistics and supply chain in several other sectors. But, this time around, we are having it in health.
“So this is unique and critical, especially going by the fact that we have just recovered from COVID-19.
“There’s nothing saying that another pandemic is not going to come. And this is why it is so vital.
“The journey of a thousand years start with a step. Our aspiration is that it has started, we just continue to gather momentum.
“I won’t be surprised if in the next two or three years, we are producing 20, 30, 100s of Ph.D holders specifically in this area,” Shonubi said.
Olamilekan, the celebrant and Ph.D Holder, expressed excitement over his new qualification.
He expressed commitment to making logistics and supply chain management in health more effective, thanking the key stakeholders who contributed in one way or the other to make the course a success.
According to him, it is incessant out of stock of essential medications that led to the inception of the course/programme.
“In my course of research, which took a lot of commitment, I noticed the problem of out stock of essential medical products.
“There was a research in 2017 that says that 75 per cent of essential medications are presently out of stock. So, having that, is a big problem.
“The whole essence of the research is to see how the various supply chain practices can applied to solve the problem of stock out of essential medications in Nigeria,” Olamilekan said.
