As of September 18th this year, the Medical Procurement of Ukraine (MPU) has distributed medicines and medical devices to hospitals valued at 770 million UAH, which is six times higher than last year's figure and represents a record high in the years of the MPU's operation.
Regarding the results of centralized procurement of medical products, changes in the procurement process, and future plans, Edem Adamanov, General Manager of the MPU, shared with journalists during a press briefing held on September 20th in Kyiv.
In particular, the pharmaceutical warehouse has already received medical products worth 1.3 billion UAH, which were procured in the current year. This figure is six times higher than the same period last year. The MPU has also procured 27 out of 30 specified equipment items for a total of 386 million UAH and 677 items of medicines and medical devices out of 833 for a total of 5.2 billion UAH.
"We have significantly changed our approaches to the procurement of medical goods. Specifically, we have introduced a procurement schedule, automated communication with suppliers through SAP, and placed a focus on timely deliveries in small batches to prevent shortages of medicines in healthcare facilities. All of this is to ensure that patients are provided with free medications throughout the entire course of treatment," emphasized Edem Adamanov, General Manager of the MPU.
Among the further plans of the MPU are the formation and maintenance of an optimal level of medicine stocks both in warehouses and hospitals, rigorous monitoring of their availability, entering into three-year contracts, and the establishment of a full-cycle procurement agency.
Oleg Klots, Head of the Logistics Department, discussed the formation of the MPU as a full-cycle agency. In particular, he mentioned that the state enterprise Ukrmedpostach will soon be merged with the MPU, which will enable us to acquire our own warehouse facilities and, therefore more quickly receive and deliver medicines to the regions.
"This process is in its final stages. This means that soon we will cover the entire cycle of medical supply from collection of needs to delivery to hospitals, which will help minimize the risk of treatment interruptions for Ukrainians," explained Oleg Klots.
In turn, Dmytro Bihunets, Deputy GM on Anti-Corruption and Compliance, shared with journalists how the MPU team responds to challenges in state procurement during wartime and how they implement the State Anti-Corruption Program (SACP).
"On a regular basis, we conduct thorough checks of suppliers and manufacturers for the presence of russian or belarusian capital in the company's structure, and we disqualify them in case of confirmed risks. Additionally, we have included an additional clause in the contracts allowing unilateral termination in the event of violations of sanctions or anti-corruption legislation, as this is about protecting the reputation and interests of our state," noted Dmytro Bihunets.
Meanwhile, Vitaliy Ovsyannikov, Development Advisor, shared insights about the functioning of the Prozorro Market electronic catalog as an effective procurement tool. Specifically, healthcare institutions saved an average of 24% during the current year by using it for their purchases. Healthcare facilities have saved 145.9 million UAH.
"One of the exemplary cases of such savings is Zaporizhia City Hospital No. 10, which planned to purchase medicines for anemia in kidney diseases for 1 million UAH, but the actual cost was 571 thousand UAH. That means the savings exceeded 400 thousand UAH or 41%. And these are not isolated results demonstrated by medical institutions, indicating the high efficiency and competitiveness of using Prozorro Market compared to open tenders," summarized Vitaliy Ovsyannikov.
The event was organized with the support of USAID and the project 'Safe, Affordable, and Effective Medicines for Ukrainians' (SAFEMed), which has been a reliable partner of the MPU since its foundation.