Ministry of Health centralises procurement of medicines

TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO 

 

The Ministry of Health and Child Care has centralised the procurement of medicines for all hospitals to enjoy economies of scale, the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) has said.

PRAZ chief executive officer Clever Ruswa told Business Times the centralisation of medicines was to help in the coordination of resources.

“(When you centralise the procurement) you then tend to enjoy the economies of scale. You will take the aspects of efficiency when you consolidate your procurements from that entity,” Ruswa said.

He said as a controlled product there must be liaison with the Medical Council Association of Zimbabwe.

“They will procure them centrally and also for coordination of resources as they work with Global Fund who are also giving money to the government. So, for administrative purposes and reporting you then tend to centralise, “Ruswa said.

He said centralised procurement makes storage easier.

“When buying centrally, they then use the institutions like National Pharmaceutical Company. It’s equipped to store drugs for a longer time at a central point,” Ruswa said.

In 2019, the government secured about US$30 from development partners for procuring essential drugs.

Ruswa said centralisation of the procurement of medicines was beneficial.

“ With the problems of electricity in the economy, we may end up losing a lot of drugs if we don’t centralise the procurement of medicines. Because of many advantages of the centralised procurement, we recommended that as the regulator,” he said.

 

 

 

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button