“More rigorous” measures to improve Health Ministry’s procurement process

Apr 30, 2019 News

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In order to ensure that its existing procurement process is much fairer, more competitive and unquestionably more transparent, the Ministry of Public Health has put in place measures which it has described as “more rigorous”.
These measures, according to information released by the Ministry’s Health Promotion and Public Relations Officer, Mr. Terrence Esseboom, are needed to ensure contractors and suppliers abide by the terms of agreements brokers.
“The system is also ably supported by a Contract Consultant and a Drug Inspector. These measures help improve accountability and move the Ministry much closer to guaranteeing it gets value for its money from its suppliers, and by ensuring we get both the quantity of items ordered, and the quality we have paid for,” the Ministry announced yesterday.
It was also noted that robust inventorying is an additional step to boost accountability within the Ministry.
According to the Ministry, this renewed focus on accountability, transparency, and fostering collaboration is required to ensure long-term systems sustainability “and with assistance from our partners and stakeholders such as USAID, PAHO/WHO and Global Fund we are continuing to strengthen coordination and collaboration and to promote strong governance, transparency and accountability in the supply chain.”
The Public Health Ministry is one that provides a vital service within the social sector with specific responsibilities to provide quality and timely health care to all the people living in Guyana. To help fulfill the Ministry’s vision, the role of procurement has deemed critical.
With the establishment of the new Procurement Department in July 2017, officials have noted that the Public Health Ministry was able to set about tackling the myriad and daunting challenges it was facing. It deliberately broadened the procurement to pursue Opening Tendering; Restrictive Tendering; Single Sourcing; Request for Quotations; and Request for Proposal except for Community Participation.
However, during a 12-day study of the Ministry’s procurement system in December 2018, USAID specialists determined that the Ministry is at level 2 of the 5-tier system: Canvas; Bronze; Silver; Gold; and Accredited.
Attaining the Bronze supply chain maturity level is an important achievement. This level signals that the supply chain improvement journey is underway. To achieve Bronze, the country has trained staff, implemented processes and has some level of functional technology. This is to be applauded, as the most difficult step to make is the first, from Canvas to Bronze.
Guyana is now well positioned to lift from the Bronze level to Silver, by implementing a systematic and structured improvement programme. Silver builds on this with further advanced staff qualifications, introduction of Standard Operating Procedures and improved technology.
The Supply Chain Maturity Model generated a portfolio of 53 improvement activities which are required to attain the next level. However, each country has its own and sometimes, individual and unique challenges which also require attention.
“Part of our attention will focus on continuing to improve the skill set of our procurement staff, and this year we have planned additional training by USAID experts in a number of key areas including drafting of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), implementing our Procurement Tracking System software and taking steps to improve synergies between the Procurement and the Materials Management Unit (MMU) to improve its collection and distribution cycles of drugs, pharmaceuticals and medical supplies in the quest to help improve the lives of everyone living in Guyana,” Esseboom shared.
Better quality of living includes protection against vector-borne diseases such as malaria endemic in interior locations of Barima/Waini (Region 1); Cuyuni/Mazaruni (Region Seven); Potaro/Siparuni (Region Eight); and Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo (Region Nine).
In June 2018, the National Malaria Programme (NMP) disbursed some 92,000 long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) targeting the at-risk populations in these four Regions in the fight against the deadly disease.
For this year, the NMP aims to reduce malaria cases to approximately 11,000, a 30 percent reduction over 2018 figures.
Given the magnitude of the work to be done, the Ministry is appealing for strengthened public-private partnerships as well as greater ownership in the roll-out of all malaria activities at the community and Regional levels. The treated LLINs help prevent the spread of malaria by the Anopheles mosquito.
However, based on information filtered to the media, there is sufficient treatment available for anyone with malaria-like symptoms. As such persons believed to be so infected are being encouraged to seek immediate treatment and follow the guidelines given by the Ministry.
Additionally, the Ministry also professes to have enough vaccines available to cater for the high volume of neighbouring Venezuelans seeking assistance here.
Meanwhile, even as the risk of imported measles continues to be real, the Ministry in its response to this imminent threat collaborated with its technical partner PAHO/WHO to increase vaccination coverage along its borders and among the most vulnerable groups.
“We have formulated an action plan, which includes additional vaccines, cold-chain, security, HR and transportation needs while conducting surveillance and providing daily reports, the Ministry has noted.
The action plan developed focuses not only on childhood immunisations but across all of the life cycles, which means protecting the adolescents, the young adults and the elderly. Special emphasis was placed on ensuring that all migrants were screened for relevant vaccines and vaccinated when evidence was lacking.
The Ministries of Citizenship, Communities and Public Security all collaborated with the Ministry to ensure that bordering areas were reached by local health care workers.

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