Proposal to regulate drug bidding at public health facilities

The Ministry of Health is drafting a Circular regulating drug bidding at public health facilities. Accordingly, regarding the responsibility for planning and organizing the selection of drug suppliers, the draft proposes the responsibility for planning the selection of contractors as follows:

For drugs on the list of drugs subject to national centralized bidding - The National Centralized Procurement Unit is responsible for planning the selection of drug suppliers.

The plan is made based on the drug needs of medical facilities as announced by the National centralized procurement unit, except for HIV-AIDS treatment drugs/anti-HIV drugs, tuberculosis treatment drugs and vaccines, which are implemented as follows:

The plan for anti-HIV drugs is based on the drug needs of medical facilities according to the announcement of the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control; the plan for anti-tuberculosis drugs is based on the drug needs of medical facilities according to the announcement of the Central Lung Hospital; the plan for vaccines is based on the drug needs of medical facilities according to the announcement of the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology;

The maximum implementation period of the framework agreement and contract is 36 months, divided by drug group and quarterly and annual supply schedule.

Policy - Proposed regulations on drug bidding at public health facilities — The Ministry of Health is drafting a Circular regulating drug bidding at public health facilities.

For drugs on the list of drugs for centralized bidding at the local level, the draft clearly states: The local centralized drug procurement unit is responsible for making a plan to select a drug supplier. The plan is made based on the drug usage needs of medical facilities according to the announcement of the local centralized drug procurement unit.

The maximum implementation period of the framework agreement and contract is 36 months, divided by drug group and quarterly and annual supply schedule.

For drugs that are not planned for contractor selection by the National Centralized Procurement Unit and the Local Centralized Drug Procurement Unit, the medical facility is responsible for planning for contractor selection to supply drugs; the maximum contract implementation period is 24 months, divided by drug group.

Responsibility for organizing contractor selection, the draft clearly states that for drugs in the list of drugs for centralized bidding at the national level issued by the Minister of Health, the national centralized procurement unit is responsible for organizing the selection of drug suppliers according to regulations.

For drugs on the List of drugs for centralized bidding at the local level, the local centralized drug procurement unit is responsible for organizing the selection of drug suppliers according to regulations.

For drugs not selected by the National Centralized Procurement Unit and the Local Centralized Drug Procurement Unit, the medical facility is responsible for organizing the selection of drug suppliers according to regulations.

Report on the contractor selection results, according to the draft, within a maximum of 10 days from the date the contractor selection results are approved, the Head of the medical facility is responsible for reporting the contractor selection results as follows:

Hospitals, institutes with beds under the Ministry of Health, and national drug procurement units report the results of drug contractor selection to the Ministry of Health.

Local centralized procurement units and medical facilities conducting drug bidding under the management of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities (Provincial People's Committees) report the results of contractor selection to the Department of Health of the province or city in the area.

Medical facilities under the health sector and other medical facilities report the results of contractor selection to the competent authority approving the contractor selection plan.

Within a maximum of 10 days from the date of receiving the contractor selection results report of the units as prescribed, the Department of Health of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall synthesize and report to the Ministry of Health.

Within a maximum of 15 days from the date of receipt of the contractor selection results report from the reporting units to the Ministry of Health as prescribed, the Ministry of Health will post the results on the Ministry of Health's electronic information portal.

The draft clearly states that, before the 15th of the first month of the quarter, health management agencies of ministries and branches; hospitals and institutes with beds under the Ministry of Health, and national-level drug centralized procurement units;

The Department of Health of provinces and centrally-run cities is responsible for synthesizing and sending reports on violations by contractors in the process of selecting contractors and supplying drugs in the previous quarter of medical facilities under its management according to regulations to the Ministry of Health for synthesis and publication, as a basis for units to consider, evaluate and select contractors in the next period .

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