PM revamps Health Department’s procurement system
News that matter in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape
PM revamps Health Department’s procurement system
PORT MORESBY: Prime Minister James Marape has ordered the Health
Department to procure drugs and medicines directly from World Health
Organisation (WHO)-sanctioned manufacturers.
“Do away with the current procurement system
introduced by the previous (Peter) O’Neill Government,” he said.
“We have had enough of controversies over the Health Department’s
procurement of drugs and medicine which have been riddled with allegations of
corruption, including the Public Accounts Committee inquiries in 2014 and 2019,”
he added.
The news break was published by The National:
Procure
sanctioned drugs: PM
January 6, 2022The
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PRIME Minister James Marape has
ordered the Health Department to procure drugs and medicines directly from
World Health Organisation (WHO)-sanctioned manufacturers.
“Do away with the current procurement system introduced by the previous (Peter)
O’Neill Government,” he said on Tuesday.
But O’Neill said the procurement process was well in place before his
government took office.
O’Neill said: “Marape was Finance minister responsible for the Tenders Board
and its procurement processes. The changes he (Marape) brought forward to the
National Executive Council for the National Procurement Commission was his
(Marape) and now he wants to pass the buck,” he said.
On Tuesday, Marape met with Indian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea Shri S
Imbasekar.
Imbasekar told Marape that India was the cheapest supplier of generic drugs as
recognised by WHO. He said India could supply drugs to PNG on a
government-to-government basis at a fraction of the costs PNG was currently
paying to pharmaceutical companies.
“My Government made a deliberate policy to do a holistic overhaul of the
existing drug procurement system when we came into office in 2019,” Marape
said.
“However, a three-year drug-procurement contract issued by the O’Neill regime
was already in place and we have had to live through that. That contract has
been the subject of much controversy and riddled with allegations of
corruption, including the Public Accounts Committee inquiries in 2014 and 2019.
“This year, as we move out of the contract period, we will move into a new
drug-procurement system.”
Marape said the lives of Papua New Guineans could no longer be at the mercy of
an ineffective drug-procurement system.
“We want quality drugs to be readily available without middlemen,” he said.
“This means straight to the Health Department from a trusted source. I have
directed the Health Department to immediately start procuring drugs from
manufacturers like those in India. India is a renowned pharmaceutical nation
that the world relies on.”
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