Pharmaniaga's concession for medical supply terminated



Pharmaniaga's concession to distribute drugs and medical supplies for the Health Ministry will end on November 30 2019. There will be no concessionaire for logistics and distribution services any more, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, and, an open tender system would be introduced instead. 
However, to ensure that medical supplies and health services are not disrupted, Pharmaniaga's services will be extended until the Cabinet decides on the mechanism to manage the open tender, which is hoped to be ready by Q1 2020.  
Historically, the existence of a concession company was the result of the privatisation initiative undertaken by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1994. The privatisation involved the concessionaire taking over all the assets and manpower of the Government Medical Stores under the Health Ministry. 
Since 2009, the Health Ministry has placed a very strict new terms and KPIs, resulting in substantial improvements in supply, services and distribution
For example, Pharmaniaga successfully reduced the delivery period of pharmaceutical supplies from 60 working days to within seven working days in Peninsular Malaysia and 10 working days for Sabah and Sarawak.
The KPIs also required Pharmaniaga to provide door-to-door service delivery even to the remotest areas in the country.
It was also required to develop pharmaceutical manufacturers and other companies within the ecosystem under the Vendor Development Programme (VDP), through which vendors are able to increase their economy, job opportunities, development of employees, R&D capabilities, technology transfer and other downstream effects.
Pharmaniaga, in collaboration with the Health Ministry, was also tasked to develop, implement and maintain the Pharmacy Information System (PhIS), a homegrown system for all government hospitals and health facilities. Completed in 2016, the system reduces wastage through optimal inventory management, lowers the risk of products being expired and minimises medication errors.
There are optimism, shared, that even with the expected open tender system to be introduced in 2020, Pharmaniaga with its processes, infrastructure and system in place, theoretically, should have no issue in successfully winning the tender to supply.
/theSTAR 31-10-2019

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