SADC, Medical store Department hold talks on medical supplies

Dar es Salaam. Representatives from 16 SADC member states yesterday held a regional technical meeting with Tanzania’s Medical Stores Department (MSD) officials in Dar es Salaam to review and discuss the proposed SADC Pooled Procurement Services (SPPS) guideline.

The guideline is one of the priorities that will ensure considerable savings and increased efficiency in procurement and delivery of essential medicines and medical supplies for the SADC member states.

Upon approval of the SPPS guideline, the MSD will officially start receiving orders for medicines and medical supplies from the member states and supply them accordingly.

The meeting, which was officiated by government chief pharmacist Daudi Msasi, will end today.

The meeting’s other objective is to ensure SADC member states familiarise themselves with supply chain management, procedures and processes required in implementing the SPPS.

“By the end of this meeting, the member states will share with MSD their specific requirements in terms of procedures and regulations pertaining to pharmaceutical supplies,” said acting director of Procurement at MSD Abdul Mwanja when he spoke to journalists during the meeting. Tanzania was selected to host the SPPS by ministers of Health and ministers responsible for HIV and Aids at their meeting in November 2017 in South Africa.

The offer was communicated to Tanzania in February. On October 9, last year, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between MSD and the SADC secretariat was signed to start operationalisation of the SPPS.

Mr Msasi reiterated that MSD was determined to purchase the drugs and medical supplies directly from over 145 local and international pharmaceutical companies at the lowest prices and supply them to the customers at right time.

He further asserted that the business will benefit the local pharmaceutical firms, saying the government will purchase essential drugs and medical supplies from the local firms.