LONG BEACH, Calif., Sept. 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UTi Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq:UTIW), a global supply chain services and solutions provider, has dispensed 10 million chronic medication prescriptions to patients in Western Cape, South Africa, in under three years.
UTi Pharma reaches more than 255,000 public patients through 150 state health facilities in an award-winning partnership with the Western Cape Department of Health, a significant increase from the 130,000 patients served when the project commenced in 2012. The partnership's success was recognized in last year's South African Logistics Achiever Awards, when the design and implementation of its central dispensing unit for pharmaceuticals won highest honors.
UTi Pharma Cape Town Business Unit Manager Mike Rossi said, "Private-public projects such as this can work to significantly improve healthcare delivery to increasing numbers of patients." The expanded service now includes all public patients within the Western Cape, not just those covered by the Cape Town Metropolitan service. Other benefits include:
- Greater convenience: With an expanded number of healthcare facilities participating, the Western Cape Department of Health is taking service to levels never before experienced in South Africa and improving efficiencies with direct deliveries.
- Shorter waiting times: Waiting times for patients collecting chronic medication have been reduced significantly. The service now has more than 2,450 community outreach sites where patients can collect their medicine parcels. These alternative sites allow for a quicker collection turn around and relieve pressure at clinics.
- Better communication: Patients with mobile phones are notified via SMS that their medication is ready for pickup.
- Better decision-making: The Department of Health is now able to access dispensing data to better inform decision-making on disease management and drug utilization trends, and to enable better insight into patient compliance, one of the most challenging healthcare issues worldwide.
About UTi Worldwide
UTi Worldwide Inc. is an international, non-asset-based supply chain services and solutions company providing air and ocean freight forwarding, contract logistics, customs brokerage, distribution, inbound logistics, truckload brokerage and other supply chain management services. The company serves a large and diverse base of global and local companies, including clients operating in industries with unique supply chain requirements such as the energy and mining, retail, apparel, chemical, automotive, pharmaceutical and technology industries. The company seeks to use its global network, proprietary information technology systems, relationships with transportation providers and expertise in outsourced logistics services to deliver competitive advantage to each of its clients' supply chains.