Ukraine Steps Up Plan For "Professional" Procurement Agency
Executive Summary
Ukraine’s central procurement agency for medicines and medical devices is set to become fully operational in 2020.
Ukraine in its bid to reform its public procurement system has registered the state-owned enterprise (SOE) that will eventually become the country’s central procurement agency for drugs and medical devices.
The enterprise, which is expected to become a fully operational agency in 2020, will use the experience Ukraine has gained from the international organizations and specialized agencies that have supported the country in its procurement of healthcare products over the past few years.
Once operational, it will procure medicines and other healthcare products included in the strategic programs (vaccines, infectious diseases), as well as expensive patented medicines, said the Ministry of Health. In addition, it will work on reducing prices for products, “aggregating local demand, making framework agreements, creating and maintaining electronic catalogs, and enhancing professionalism in the medical procurement field,” the health ministry said.
"We should use the experience acquired in recent years, and create a strong, professional and efficient procurement organization”– Olha Stefanyshyna, Ukraine’s deputy minister of health
Ukraine has been procuring products through the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the UK procurement agency Crown Agents since 2015. According to health ministry, effective negotiations on prices, and reaching agreements with manufacturers, has allowed these organizations to significantly reduce the purchasing prices by an average of 39%, which, in turn, allowed the state to use the savings to purchase additional medicines to ensure that more patients receive necessary treatment.
"We should use the experience acquired in recent years, and create a strong, professional and efficient procurement organization,” Olha Stefanyshyna, Ukraine’s deputy minister of health, said on Oct. 26 in a statement announcing the newly registered SEO. “Today, we are making the first step in this direction, and, with the funding from the Global Fund, we are planning to implement several pilot projects in the near future."
The SOE will be subordinated directly to the Ministry of Health. It activities will be controlled by an independent supervisory board, which the ministry said would be formed in the next six months and would consist of representatives from government bodies, international organizations, patient and anti-corruption organizations.
The efficiency, transparency and accountability of the strategic purchaser of pharmaceuticals and other healthcare products will be ensured by full compliance with the best corporate governance standards and practices, the health ministry maintained.
The director general of the new procurement SOE “will be selected in an open and transparent competition,” the health ministry added, noting that the vacancy will be announced in “the near future.”
From the editors of Scrip Regulatory Affairs.