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Gov’t defends sole-sourcing of drugs from New GPC

Jan 24, 2013 News

 

Government is looking to continue sole-sourcing billions of dollars in medical drugs from the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (New GPC), with the Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon seeking to justify why.
In recent years, the procurement of drugs by Government has come under intense scrutiny with New GPC at the center of criticisms.
Luncheon yesterday said that the government is not convinced that its practice of handing billions of dollars in drug supply contracts to New GPC represents sole-sourcing, even if no one else is involved in bidding for the contracts.
He said that what the government has been doing is not “conventional” single sourcing, where everyone else is excluded.
According to Luncheon, at no time are pharmaceuticals procured without the procurement agency knowing what the competitive price for the items is.
So, Luncheon indicated that anytime a local provider is “selected” that provider’s submission has to be competitive in relation to international providers that actually provide drugs to Guyana and other developing countries. The agency he referred to is the IDA Foundation, the world’s leading not-for-profit supplier of affordable pharmaceutical products.
“So you have to get a competitive price better than IDA for you to get an award. If IDA offers these drugs at prices better than the bids submitted by national entity we are obligated on the basis of our pricing policy…to go with the IDA,” Luncheon stated.
He said this is what makes the procurement of medical drugs from New GPC not sole sourcing. He said that matter of comparing prices is a “competitive component of the procurement process.”
The single source method for the procurement of goods is set out in Section 28 of the Procurement Act 2003.
For single sourcing to take place it must be a case where the goods are available only from a particular supplier or contractor, or a particular supplier or contractor has exclusive rights with respect to the goods and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists.
Luncheon could not say when an independent national procurement commission would come into being.

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