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Health ministers from seven small African island states today signed an agreement to jointly purchase medicines and vaccines in an attempt to improve the quality of and access to medicines and other health products.
The ministers of Cape Verde, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe and Seychelles that make up the Small Island Developing States signed the Common Procurement agreement to take advantage of economies of scale and collective bargaining.
The high cost of medicines and medical supplies is one of the main challenges small island states face due to their modest population.
The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, and the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, joined the ministers at the virtual signing ceremony.
Dr. Tedros congratulated the ministers for this important step forward and pledged WHO’s continued support to assist countries in implementing the agreement.
Dr Moeti noted that efforts made so far to establish the joint procurement program had already increased the attractiveness of the small island developing States pharmaceutical market.
“By creating a broader flow of demand, we can expect better access to quality drugs at competitive prices. The high cost of medicines is one of the main barriers that many countries in our region face in providing affordable and good quality health care. Pooling our resources is one way to overcome this challenge, ”said Dr. Moeti.
The agreement signed today formalizes the objective of the Joint Procurement Program: to coordinate the acquisition of selected medicines and health products in an affordable way and to improve the quality of the product.
It also sets out the guiding principles and governance structure, including the creation of a secretariat, technical committees, and a council of ministers.
Given that the African region faces the double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, it is essential that countries have systems in place for the timely procurement of supplies at a reasonable cost and in sufficient quantities to meet treatment needs and efficiently complement those major investments in health promotion.
For small island states, joint drug procurement is also expected to harmonize drug management systems, improve supplier performance, and reduce procurement workload.
Joint contracting is the ultimate model for collaboration between countries aimed at improving the efficiency of contracting.
Plans to establish the joint procurement initiative began in 2017 in Seychelles during a meeting of health ministers from five small island developing states who expressed their commitment to implement the program, particularly for medicines for noncommunicable diseases.
Guinea-Bissau and Madagascar later joined.
“We must admit that it has been a long and tedious endeavor, and I commend the contributions of past and current ministers and their teams for their dedication in creating an environment conducive to launching this mechanism,” said Dr. Moeti. .
