The MSP and the IESS announce massive purchase of medicines to solve the shortage before the end of the year

Given the constant complaints from users due to the lack of medicines, the highest authorities of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) and the Ecuadorian Institute of Security (IESS), Ximena Garzón and Francisco Cepeda, respectively, announced that this month, before the end the year, the problem will have a solution.

The two entities will carry out a joint, massive and immediate purchase of around 200 types of medicines, for all types of pathologies. For this, the MSP will allocate around $ 30 million, while the IESS will contribute $ 20 million. The acquisition mechanism will be made through a special regime that involves a public company.

Garzón explained that the public company – he did not specify which one it is – will be hired by the MSP and the IESS to be in charge of obtaining the drugs from the pharmaceutical companies and supplying the medical units. It is a special process that will be carried out for this one occasion, clarified the minister, while definitive and long-term solutions are specified, such as the outsourcing of pharmacies.

This massive purchase will allow the supply of medicines to the entire public health system and social security for the next five months.

In protest, agility is demanded in the purchase of high-cost drugs and timely attention

It is expected that from March 2022 a new system will be ready, with which users will be able to approach any pharmacy with their prescription. The invoice will be sent to the MSP or the IESS, as appropriate, Garzón said. The mechanism will allow monitoring which medicines are delivered to each patient, it will also include traceability and ease of access to the clinical history of each patient, among other aspects.

The Minister of Health pointed out that the problem is not recent, but that since 2019 the medical units have not been supplied and is due to several factors, including the lack of knowledge of the public procurement processes by some officials. During the seven months of the current government, evaluations and corrections have been made, he added.

Garzón called on pharmaceutical companies, as well as distributors, to “support the shoulder”, as happened with the vaccination against COVID-19, in what he described as a problem that is not only the responsibility of the Government.

Relatives of hospital patients despair due to lack of medicines and supplies. To their struggle for the ailments they add the pain of not having money to acquire them

The president of the IESS Board of Directors, for his part, stated that when he took office last October, the shortage level was 70%, on average. In the course of recent months, the supply capacity has been achieved at 54%, which has been achieved through reverse auction mechanisms and minute purchases.

Cepeda noted that the joint operation with the MSP speeds up procedures, reduces costs and represents “a blow to corruption” because they will stop making isolated and discretionary purchases. He also assured that once the massive acquisition is executed, the supply will rise to 80%; the rest will correspond to very specific issues that require a different treatment.

Likewise, it reported that, after an analysis, it was decided to separate several IESS officials for not having previously provided timely solutions.

María Sara Jijón, general director of the National Public Procurement Service (Sercop), indicated that the entity’s commitment is to support all institutions with training and planning.

Regarding the cataloging of medicines, Jijón mentioned that in October the MSP sent the technical sheets of 780 medicines from the basic table and now Sercop is working on the market study with different suppliers. He clarified that no product has yet been officially cataloged, until the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, issues an executive decree with the new management model.

Hours after the press conference in which the announcement was made, President Guillermo Lasso spoke on social networks and stressed that, simultaneously with the massive purchase, “we are working on the implementation of a new model of permanent supply and opportune of medicines that will allow to solve in a fast, agile and transparent way the acquisition of drugs and necessary supplies ”, he said. (I)