SUPPLIERS of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies are now required to submit recent manufacturers’ authorisations offered to them.

In a public advisory published in the Guyana Chronicle newspapers on Sunday, the Ministry of Public Health said it has made “major changes to the way business is conducted with suppliers of pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies”.

In the advertisement, the ministry, which has been plagued with serious procurement issues, said special attention is now being given to the way procurement is processed.
“As such, one very important measure taken to enhance the efficiency of the evaluation of bids and other due-diligence processes is to now request for each of our pharmaceutical and medical suppliers to submit recent manufacturers’ authorisations offered to them,” the public advisory stated.

The Ministry of Public Health said the recent manufacturer’s authorisation or Marketing Charter Agreement is considered to be one which is an original parchment of the manufacturer, and is dated no earlier than six months to date.

“These instruments of authorisation are intended to expedite the verification process during the evaluation period, and also to mitigate [sic] against any uncertainty,” the missive stated. Suppliers are required to submit their documents to the ministry’s permanent secretary on or before May 25.

Last year, Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence had committed to revising the country’s drug-procurement system which she said would assist with many of the procurement woes facing the health sector.

A number of initiatives have been implemented by the ministry, among them being the computerisation of medical records and drugs and materials inventory.
The computerised system is geared at having detailed information on medical supplies and pharmaceuticals. This includes the procurement stage to the distribution stage.

Annually, billions of dollars are spent to purchase drugs and other medical supplies for the public health sector. Over the years, there have been significant issues plaguing the country’s procurement system, which has resulted in the APNU+AFC coalition government putting measures in place to curb the many challenges which exist.