The Mediating Influence of Procurement Strategy on the Relationship between Physical Distribution and Availability of Contraceptives in Public Health Facilities

Abstract

This study examines the mediating effect of procurement strategy on the relationship between physical distribution and the availability of contraceptives in Uganda’s public health facilities. The study uses data collected from 165 (94.3% response rate) selected public health facilities from south western Uganda using questionnaires. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used for data analysis. The findings show that procurement strategy is of less importance to the availability of contraceptives and does not mediate the relationship between physical distribution and the availability of contraceptives in the public health sector. This evidence conflicts the previous scholarly work which considers procurement strategy as a conduit through which physical distribution influences the availability of contraceptives. Furthermore, the results indicate a positive and significant influence of physical distribution on the availability of contraceptives.  This, therefore, implies that given the stochastic nature of demand for contraceptives, there is a need for the public health sector to craft well-defined physical distribution strategies that are aimed at timely transportation of contraceptives and strategic location of distribution centers to ensure constant availability of contraceptives.