Timeline for procurement of Health items (HI) including ACT, RDT, LLIN and Microscopes was prepared in consultation with the Finance and Program implementation unit.
CORRELATION OF TARGETS,BUDGETS PLAN AND PSM PLAN
| DESCRIPTION | YEAR – 1 | YEAR – 2 | TOTAL | |||||||||||||||||
| QTR-1 | QTR-5 | QTR-6 | QTR-7 | QTR-8 | ||||||||||||||||
| RDT’s | ||||||||||||||||||||
| PF TARGETS | – | 60,000 | 127,500 | 195,000 | 335,000 | 475,000 | 475,000 | |||||||||||||
| BUDGET PLAN USD | 165,750 | 260,000 | 182,000 | 607,750 | ||||||||||||||||
| PSM PLAN | 165,750 | 260,000 | 182,000 | 607,750 | ||||||||||||||||
| ACT’S | ||||||||||||||||||||
| PF TARGETS | 6,000 | 12,750 | 19,500 | 33,500 | 47,500 | 47,500 | ||||||||||||||
| BUDGET PLAN USD | 33,813 | 53,040 | 37,128 | 123,981 | ||||||||||||||||
| (Unit Cost 2.04 US$) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| SM PLAN | 16,575 | 26,000 | 18,200 | 60,775 | ||||||||||||||||
| LLIN’S | ||||||||||||||||||||
| PF TARGETS | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 200,000 | 350,000 | 500,000 | 700,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | |||||||||||
| BUDGET PLAN USD | 2,200,000 | 2,200,000 | 4,400,000 | |||||||||||||||||
| PSM PLAN | 400,000 | 400,000 | 800,000 | |||||||||||||||||
- Lead time is 120 to 150 days after the issuance of Purchase Orders.
- 25% buffer stock for RDT and ACT
- 5% wastage /loss allowance
The procurement process of (HI) was initiated in Aug 2008 by selecting Merlin, an International Non Governmental Organization (INGO) working as SR in the implementation of Round-7 as procurement agent and signing a MoU between Directorate of Malaria Control (DMC) and Merlin.
The process of International tendering was initiated in Sept 2008 in order to procure the first consignment of HI. Specifications of the Health Items (HI) to be procured for the TGF grant, were developed with the assistance of the technical staff of DMC while adhering to the TGF guidelines. It was unanimously decided that only WHO approved / WHOPES approved HI shall be procured in order to get the quality products. The same specifications were forwarded to Merlin for procurement. In compliance with the terms of agreement with GF, tax exemption certificate for (DMC) was obtained from the Federal Board of Revenue; Government of Pakistan in order to procure the items without taxes.
After the approval of the PSM plan in Nov 2008 and the release of disbursement request in Jan 2009, the purchase orders were issued accordingly.
All the health items were procured on the Delivered Duty Unpaid (DDU) basis which saved the cost to be paid for damages or late charges. Karachi being the main port of Pakistan was selected as the entry point. Consignments were received and stored in warehouse, rented by Merlin for the purpose. Appropriate measures for security were adopted and Logistic Officer (Merlin) was made responsible for the security of the stocks.
Inspection committee including the technical persons of DMC was constituted for random monitoring of storage conditions, qualitative and quantitative verification of the HI stocked in the ware house.
Insured transport agency was hired to shift the stocks from Karachi to the District/ Regional stores of the sub recipients (SR) in the 19 targeted districts. Such stores were already assessed in this regard by the PSM section. The movement of the trucks / containers were tracked and all the deliveries was completed in the shortest possible time in a very economical process which helped to save the supply management cost of the PR. Delivery/supply of the HI to the facilities for onward distribution among the ultimate beneficiaries/target population was made by the SR’s concerned.
Involvement of public sector was ensured in the management of inventory control and all the stocks of HI were recorded by the store incharge of the facility (District Authorities) as per the criteria laid down by the public sector.
Drug Management Information System (DMIS) was developed with the help of M&E section which ensures tracing of each and every item at any level. SRs are supposed to submit the monthly facility wise utilization report on the Facility Malaria (FM) forms which helps in systematic stock management and stock outs are avoided. During the implementation of accelerated plan, inter facility, inter SR and inter district rescheduling/redistribution of the available stocks was planned and implemented to acheive the maximum utilization of HI.
It was endeavored to ensure the quality during the distribution phase. In order to determine the post-distribution quality, RDTs were collected randomly from the districts and were compared with the results of microscopy by the Technical Advisor of WHO. Similarly ACTs randomly collected from field, were sent to the DC&TMD, National Institute of Health, Islamabad (a Federal Drug Testing Laboratory under the administrative control of Federal Ministry of Health) for test/analysis and reports were received.
Procurement of Non Health Items
Purchase committee was constituted with the approval of the Secretary Health /Chair CCM for the purchase of non-health items and all the non-health items including vehicles, furniture, I.T equipment, stationary, etc were procured following the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Rules and regulations. The same rules were observed for procurement of services of the consultants for BCC activities and malariometric surveys.
Achievements
- Procurements completed within the targeted time line
- Cost effective purchases made without compromising the quality.
- Quality has been ensured at each and every step of procurement.
- Distribution of all required items to all the targeted districts as per approved quantity completed within set deadlines.
- Best possible storage achieved which lowered the wastages/ losses.
- Health items monitoring information system was developed with M&E unit of PMU which is instrumental in tracking the health items till the facility / beneficiary level.
Lessons Learnt
- Collaborative decisions involving Finance, Program and PSM can manage the timely and efficient procurements.
- Procurement from the manufacturer/ factory helps to get quality and economical products.
Constraints
- Security condition of the country limited the verification of stocks in field.
- Processes were delayed due to involvement of public sector in the process.
Limited Human Resource in PSM section is also one of the major impediments in effective