Before you can start purchasing and shipping medicines and supplies, you first need to someplace to store and distribute them. At a minimum, you need a small warehouse and a pharmacy. Neither needs to be an elaborate facility. But they do need to meet some basic requirements for accessibility, security and climate control.

Warehouse

A warehouse must be readily accessible from a road negotiable by trucks delivering supplies. It must be solid enough to protect your stock against damage from weather, bugs and rodents, or unauthorized people. That means, at the minimum, a good roof, solid walls, a door with a lock, and a floor that stays dry during rainy seasons. The warehouse should be equipped with shelves to keep supplies off the floor and avoid damage in the case of a flood. Narcotics must be kept in a separate locked cabinet that is only accessible to managers.

The warehouse should also have reliable electricity for lighting, refrigeration (if you will be stocking vaccines and other supplies that require it), and computers (if you hope to use a computer-based system to manage inventory). Ideally, your pharmacy and warehouse should both be temperature controlled, or at least well ventilated and equipped with ventilation fans.

Dispensary or pharmacy

A pharmacy need be little more than a room with a door that locks, ample shelf space, and a window through which prescriptions can be received and filled. PIH has found it effective to equip both our warehouses and our pharmacies with plastic bins that can be clearly labeled and used to hold separate items, shelved in alphabetical order by drug type (oral, injectable, topical).