OECS Health Officials adjudicate a new round of contracts for the pooled purchasing of medicines

Castries July 13TH  2010– OECS Health Officials are in Saint Lucia to decide on the new round of contracts for the pooled purchasing of medicines for the people of the sub-region. Seven hundred medical products are on tender including five hundred medicines, along with medical supplies and x-ray items.

The adjudication is taking place at the 21st meeting of the OECS Pharmaceutical Procurement Service (OECS PPS) Tenders and Technical Advisory Committee which is attended by Managers of Central Medical Stores and senior doctors from throughout the OECS. During the process officials examine quotations from suppliers and determine the best products on tender at the lowest possible price. Suppliers must be prequalified as well as meet international standards.

Head of the OECS PPS Francis Burnett says the process of awarding contracts to purchase medical products for the people of the OECS is a closed door session: “Suppliers are not allowed to interact with the committee members during the adjudication. It’s a closed meeting. In the past suppliers have come on island and sometimes had discussions out of the meeting. We have disallowed this. We are sequestered in a hotel room: It’s almost like a jury deliberating a case. This is very serious business. No suppliers are allowed.”

Burnett maintains that patients can rest assured that their issues are considered during the selection of medicines for distribution throughout the OECS: “OECS citizens are assured of a continuous supply of good quality medicines at the lowest possible cost to governments. When we adjudicate contracts in July the contract period begins in earnest in September. So September 2010 to March 2012 will signal a new round of contracts with suppliers. OECS citizens will then be receiving medicines in the public health supply system of a market basket of seven hundred products.”-Burnett

Addressing the opening of the adjudication, Burnett said enhanced procedures for prequalifying suppliers are in place to make them eligible to participate in the restricted tendering system: “All committee members and the PPS Managing Director are required to sign a Declaration of Interest and Impartiality. It’s a requirement by the CARICOM and OECS Secretariats that persons involved in awarding and adjudicating contracts should not have any competing interests and should not be influenced by the industry or other competing sources. The document must be signed before the adjudicating starts”.

Meanwhile Managers of Medical Stores and Heads of Public Pharmacies in the OECS have been advised to pay extra attention to ensure that the best possible medications are available for patients and more so at an affordable cost. Addressing the 21st meeting of the OECS PPS Tenders and Technical Advisory Committee, outgoing chairperson Neil Hawke called for more effective stock managing or forecasting to further help provide patients with the best possible and affordable medication.

Hawke who is currently the Acting Pharmacy Manager at the Health Services Authority in the British Virgin Islands, says improper forecasting will not provide an accurate estimate of the quantity and type of medications for patients. He says this can even lead to a breech of contract with suppliers and eventually a heavier financial burden on patients: “Let’s say for example we as a group were to tell the company we will purchase 10 thousand items and because of financial constraints some countries or a country will then not be able meet their part of the quota, it affects the 10 thousand in the end. The company, because it’s a tender would have given the price based on the volume initially requested.  The company will then be unable to honour that contract because we cannot meet the requested amount. The company will then hold the order or withdraw their service. The contract will then be off altogether. Then if we are to buy outside of the organization we stand to pay higher prices and this increased price will be transferable to the patient who will then have to pay more for the medication. We will then have to find the extra dollar to now purchase the medication or do without and of course when we are dealing with health, to do without is not the best thing.”

Hawke says accurate forecasting will secure contracts with suppliers and enhance the reputation the OECS bulk purchasing arrangement has with patients throughout the region. The OECS bulk purchasing arrangement currently carries a 92 % availability rate of medications for a variety of health conditions.

The 21st meeting of the OECS Pharmaceutical Procurement Service’s Tenders and Technical Advisory Committee runs from Monday July 12th to Friday July 16th 2010