The New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (NGPC) has denied reports that it is being given preferential treatment by the government in the award of large contracts for the supply of drugs and medical supplies, while saying that its selection is based on its meeting pre-qualification standards two years ago.
“The Government and people of Guyana benefit in excess of G$400m per year from purchases made from the NGPC,” the company said in a statement, adding that contrary to what was reported, it was only one of two local companies to qualify during the pre-qualification process in 2010 to supply pharmaceuticals to the government. It also accused a rival that failed to pre-qualify of receiving contracts valued in the hundreds of millions to supply the Health Ministry.
The statement came in wake of concerns triggered by a contact awarded to the company for the supply of drugs and medical supplies to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to the tune of $1.3B, for which there was no public tender process. Khemraj Ramjattan, Chairman of the AFC, and Lloyd Singh, Chief Executive Officer of International Pharmaceutical Agency (IPA), criticized the award, while noting that there was no public notice of the tender.
“It is unfair for one person to be given this massive amount without due tendering procedures being put in place. My understanding is that this contract was awarded to New GPC and here again it is revealing massive favoritism,” Ramjattan had said in reaction to the award last week.
But NGPC said on Saturday that the Ministry of Health, in 2010, undertook a pre-qualification exercise for suppliers of pharmaceutical and medical supplies. During this process, prospective bidders had to satisfy a series of requirements, including their legal status, manufacturing capacity, licences to manufacture and import, and certification of the products and suppliers if the products were not manufactured in Guyana.
Five companies participated in the exercise, including two international companies and local companies Medpharm Co., IPA and the NGPC. Only Medpharm and the NGPC met the required criteria and were certified and approved to a join a list of established international organisations to supply pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to the government of Guyana, the company said. “To NGCP’s knowledge and in keeping with the [Auditor General’s] recommendations, the [Ministry of Health] has ever since been operating within this mandate,” it added.
The Auditor General, who has repeatedly criticized the single-sourcing of supplies from the NGPC in annual reports, had previously recommended that the ministry advertise internationally every three years for the supply of drugs and medical supplies and pre-qualify suppliers. In the face of past criticism, former Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy had strongly defended direct drug purchases from the NGPC as compliant with a 2003 Cabinet decision but also announced that his ministry would request a renewal of a decision which would also allow procurement from several international suppliers. When later confronted at the level of the Public Accounts Committee about the practice continuing despite the Auditor General’s recommendation, the Ministry’s accountant later said Cabinet had renewed its approval by the issuance of another Cabinet Decision in 2008. At the end of 2010, Ramsammy announced that the government had stopped sole-sourcing drugs from the NGPC and that tenders were being considered by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).
‘National crisis’
In its statement, NGCP explained that companies who did not meet necessary requirements could result in a process that results in higher prices, complexity in regulating quality and also difficulty in recovering compensation for inferior goods which have been paid for.
It added that delays in deliveries can also pose a problem. On this point, the company alleged that despite the fact that IPA failed to pre-qualify, it has been the beneficiary of contracts from the Ministry of Health for several hundred millions of dollars every year. Further, in one instance, NGPC stated that it had to intervene “to avert a national crisis” after IPA failed to supply anti-retrovirals, for which it had been awarded a contract.
The company also highlighted specific benefits of its role as supplier, including credit and flexible payment terms, to all state agencies. “On many occasions pharmaceuticals and medical supplies are supplied before a single cent is received. This is true even for internationally and publicly tendered supplies such as anti-retrovirals,” it noted, pointing out that the open credit arrangement also means that orders can be acted upon without delay.
In addition, it said it offers short lead times and handles emergency purchases by air at no additional cost, while pointing out that it has the manufacturing capacity and inventory that can be depended upon in the case of a national emergency. “A case in point is the company’s response during the 2005 floods. Without this intervention the outbreak of water-born diseases would have crippled this country,” it said.
NGPC is the first and only company in the Caribbean to manufacture anti-retrovirals for use by its people, which it said was also in response to a national pandemic. It exports products to the region, North America and the UK as well.
According to the NGPC for over ten years there has been minimal praise for the company although there are numerous indisputable accomplishments. It pointed to the recent commendation of the IDB’s Basic Nutrition Programme here, pointing out that it is one of the manufacturers of the micro-nutrient supplements that are distributed free to prevent anemia nationwide. “The preservation of the nations’ health is the most important mission of NGPC by providing quality pharmaceutical products at competitive prices so that the ordinary man can derive maximum benefits at little or no cost,” it added.
