The Commission for the Evaluation of Critical Shortages is advancing the process of joint drug procurement, with the goal of ensuring supply in the country's public health facilities. According to the national director of Medicines and Supplies of the Ministry of Health (Minsa), Eric Conte, today the phase related to the procurement process was addressed. According to the entity, in this stage, purchasing teams and legal advisory services from the Social Security Fund (CSS) and Minsa participated, with the aim of agreeing on the terms of reference, homologating with suppliers, and defining the quantities of medicines that each entity will acquire. Conte detailed that the objective is that in the coming weeks, public procurement acts will be carried out through the Panama Compra portal, in which companies constituted in the country and authorized by the National Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs may participate. Additionally, he stated that in this joint purchase, Minsa, CSS, and the boards of directors of the Children's Hospital, Santo Tomás Hospital, and José Domingo de Obaldía Hospital are participating. Once the process is awarded, the delivery deadlines for the medicines will be established, which will range between 30 and 60 days, while each institution internally formalizes the corresponding contractual documentation. These purchases contemplate the acquisition of medicines for chronic diseases, antibiotics, and treatments used for cancer patients, among other essential drugs for medical care in the public system. Conte announced that the calls for these public procurement acts could be made during the month of April.
