…for drug procurement saboteurs
-Min Cummings says drug shortage cry is over

DRUG procurement at the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) has been brought under control and harsh penalties await anyone with deliberate attempts to stymie the process.

This is according to Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Karen Cummings who told the National Assembly during her presentation on the 2018 Budget debate on Monday evening, that the government has “toiled and wrestled with the beast called procurement”.
As she noted the efforts of the Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence, she said that the industry’s best practices which were implemented by the agency are designed to ensure good governance and leadership, mixed with accountability, fairness, balance and transparency. She cautioned, however, that much has to be done and more changes are to be made, but noted that the “perennial “cry of drug shortage will no longer reverberate across the country.

According to Dr Cummings, a “last mile” distribution system is being pursued and this will see commodities being delivered in a timely manner. ”The people of Guyana will not be allowed to suffer because of procurement issues at the Ministry of Public Health,” she told parliamentarians. “And may I sound the bell, any deliberate attempt to stymie the procurement process at the Ministry of Public Health will be met with harsher penalties, “ Dr Cummings added.

The ministry has a newly-established procurement department, the Materials Management Unit, which is headed by a manager who overlooks trained staff members at the unit, Minister Cummings noted.

Speaking on the overall efforts of the ministry, she said that although the system may not be perfect, the ministry continues to make gains despite the challenges which exist. She said that with the 2018 budgetary allocation and help from international donors and partners, the ministry is devoted to reforming and transforming the health sector in Guyana into a world class entity that utilises evidence- based medical best practices to serve Guyanese.

An upbeat Minister Cummings said that the ministry will ensure that it provides quality management at every tier of the public health care system and, the agency will apply quality management systems in a coordinated manner, to ensure it is of an uncompromising quality. She said the $33B allocation for 2018 will buttress the efforts of the MOPH.

The issue of drug procurement has been on the front burner this year. In May, Minister Lawrence noted that in the past, the procurement and ordering of drugs were not properly forecasted or catered for. She cited as an example, an excess amount of drugs will be purchased for 20, 000 cancer patients when only 5, 000 patients are actually in the region. The excess amount of drugs can be left to expire or spoil if not properly stored.

“There were no records for the consumption, so you were just buying… So the ordering was being done on assumption and not based on consumption, and we have tried to remedy that as far as possible,” the minister added.. At the time, too, Minister Lawrence noted that the MOPH had revised drug-procurement system which will help resolve the issue of drug shortage throughout the country.