Private city hospitals have joined bidders to supply the health sector with drugs and Trinidadian conglomerate ANSA McAl says that it will continue to bid and wants eligible companies to join for a competitive process.
“Government has assured us that when drug tenders are out it will be so that all companies will be given an opportunity to bid and there would not be any sole sourcing,” ANSA McAl Managing Director Beverley Harper told Stabroek News recently.
Woodlands Hospital and the Balwant Singh Hospital under its drug licence holder, Dr Mahdu Singh-Pandey recently supplied tenders for the procurement and supply of drugs for the public health system.
Government last month announced that a revised system for the procurement of drugs will be made public soon. The revision will include that generic drugs can be supplied as opposed to the previous requirement that branded drugs be provided.
Minister of Health Dr George Norton had explained that this was to facilitate a more competitive bidding process, which according to him would ensure government gets value for money.
The David Granger Administration has moved away from the prequalification of drugs process, bringing an end to a system that had controversially handed the lion’s share of contracts to the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (NGPC) for many years. The previous PPP/C government had been accused of favouring NGPC.
“What will happen is having provided the information to potential bidders we will have the document information for sale and they can buy the documents. There is no prequalification. You want to supply us you buy the bid documents and you submit your bid,” Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Trevor Thomas had told this newspaper.
He noted that “we have a pre-bidding meeting” to provide all potential bidders with information relevant to what the criteria are. “What are the conditionalities that have to be met, not just in bidding to supply pharmaceuticals to the public system but what are the regulations in the relevant importing of pharmaceuticals, and drugs in the system,” he also stated.
Harper said that while her company is the distributor for six of ten major pharmaceutical supply companies she would not want to a “sole sourcer” and welcomed the new process. “We hope for a level playing field …I would not want to be a sole sourcer I want a process that would give the people the best price for the drugs,” she said.
