On August 4, a regular meeting of the public working group under the Single Distributor SK-Pharmacy LLP was held, which includes representatives of civil society and the business community, deputies and industry experts.
On the agenda, social activists touched upon a number of topical issues in the activities of the Single Distributor. One of them concerns the results of the company’s internal analysis of corruption risks, which was carried out in May-July 2023.
In particular, potential risks were assessed in regulatory legal acts and in organizational and managerial activities, as well as in the field of rules for organizing and conducting the purchase of medicines.
The main goal of the internal analysis of corruption risks is the elimination or minimization of corruption risks in the activities of the Single Distributor, especially in the regulatory legal acts relating to the activities of the Single Distributor, and in organizational and managerial activities. Members of the public working group were given the opportunity to submit proposals on their part to eliminate corruption risks.
The single distributor carries out all the necessary anti-corruption measures provided for by the Concept, which is the direction of the implementation of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the Message of the Head of State. Thus, an internal analysis of corruption risks is carried out, an anti-corruption culture is being formed, and an anti-corruption management system is being maintained.
The next report was presented on the system of drug provision within the framework of the GOBMP and OSMS. An important point in the entire process of medical supply is the planning and development of applications by medical organizations. Recall that medical organizations themselves determine their need for the names of medicines, volumes and delivery schedule. The purchase and supply of drugs by the Single Distributor is carried out on the basis of these applications.
The single distributor informed about the start of the application campaign for 2024, the country's medical institutions have already begun to form their forecast needs for the coming year. Applications within the hospital by the regions have been formed, at the outpatient level, an application is expected in the near future from the Social Health Insurance Fund.
As you know, the Single Distributor purchases in advance, that is, medicines for the next year are purchased already in the current year. The main conditions for the purchase of medicines are the delivery schedule. Procurement procedures are carried out in time to ensure the availability of medicines in the warehouses of the Single Distributor in December. Shipment to polyclinics and hospitals will begin in January 2024.
A problematic aspect is the receivables of medical organizations. A single distributor annually receives less timely payment for the volume of medicines supplied to medical organizations, which negatively affects the further development of the country's medical supply system.
A separate topic for discussion was the work with BigPharma. During the presentation, public figures were given more details about the work done to attract global players to the domestic pharmaceutical market.
The head of state noted the importance of developing the domestic pharmaceutical market and cooperation with global pharmaceutical corporations, attracting investors, ensuring the transfer of technologies and the latest developments.
In this vein, the key tool is cooperation with BigPharma companies and localization of production in Kazakhstan. To attract the production of branded drugs in the Republic of Kazakhstan, measures are envisaged to simplify the procedures for localizing production, taking into account all cycles, from packaging to deep localization.
A single distributor systematically studies the best practices in the procurement and logistics of drugs from global players for its introduction to the domestic market. The issue of localizing the production of medicines and medical devices of BigPharma players on the basis of Kazakhstani manufacturers with the possibility of exporting to the countries of the EAEU and Central Asia is being worked out.
Framework cooperation agreements have already been signed with global pharmaceutical companies - Roche Holding, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer and AstraZeneca UK LTD. Along with this, agreements were signed on the localization of production and technology transfer between domestic manufacturers and South Korean companies.
Work is underway to sign an agreement on cooperation and readiness for localization with Bayer (Germany), Takeda (Japan), Novartis (Switzerland) and Janssen (Belgium).
Priority should be given to industries that meet international standards and provide an integrated approach to improving the product range with an emphasis on scientific and technological innovations, providing highly qualified personnel and maximizing the use of the country's intellectual potential, as well as promoting high-tech domestic products to foreign markets.
Another important area, according to the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry until 2025 adopted by the Government, is the development of pharmaceutical science and the creation of new industries with the participation of world players.
In this vein, the Single Distributor, based on the results of studying international experience, took the initiative to create medical and pharmaceutical clusters in the country. This will contribute to the creation of a favorable infrastructure for the development of the domestic pharmaceutical industry.
The creation of pharmaceutical clusters is expedient through the involvement of domestic research institutes, scientific laboratories, large medical universities, domestic production sites, investment project support institutions, local executive bodies, as well as the deployment of clusters in free economic and industrial zones like R&D centers.
To date, the relevant order to create medical and pharmaceutical clusters in the country in the cities of Astana, Aktobe and Shymkent has already entered into force and work is underway to develop and approve road maps for the implementation of the initiative.
With such an integrated approach, in the future it will be possible to solve not only the current problems of the development of the pharmaceutical industry, but also to export new drugs and ensure the confidence of citizens in Kazakhstani drugs.
The final presentation by the participants of the meeting was heard on the topic of centralized procurement of medical equipment for 2023. As you know, earlier the President instructed to switch to a centralized purchase of medical equipment on the basis of a single distributor, which is being implemented in stages.
In pursuance of the instructions of the Head of State, systematic work has been done in terms of regulatory support, involvement of experts in medical equipment and automation of procurement mechanisms. Today, stage II activities are being carried out - this is personnel training, measures for the timely filing of applications by medical organizations and modification of the procurement module on the web portal of the Center for Electronic Finance JSC.
According to the results of 2022, 177 units of medical equipment were purchased for a total amount of 23.2 billion tenge. As a result of centralized procurement, it was possible to save 3.1 billion tenge of budget funds, which is an average of 14% (for individual lots, the savings amounted to 81%).
On the basis of the Single Distributor, a module for receiving applications for the purchase of medical equipment in the Unified Pharmaceutical Information System (UPIS) has been developed. Moreover, this portal is synchronized with the procurement web portal of the Center for Electronic Finance JSC, which ensures the exclusion of paper-based procedures and the “human factor”. To improve efficiency, it is proposed to modernize the EFIS to create a unified system with the National Center for Expertise of Medicines, Medical Devices and Medical Equipment.
In addition, at the moment, the Single Distributor is conducting a substantive study of the issues of localization of production with major global manufacturers in Korea, Japan, Europe and domestic manufacturers of medical equipment.
To date, a number of meetings have been held with large companies to exchange experience in the field of the latest technologies: the German industrial association of optical, medical and mechatronic technologies SPECTARIS, the Dutch manufacturer of medical equipment Philips, the Korean global orthopedic company specializing in the production of high-quality products Corentec, Kazakhstani companies LLP " BARK Technology”, JSC “Aktyubrentgen”, JSC “Ordamed” and others.
Negotiations were held with foreign manufacturers of medical equipment on the issues of localization of production, LCC: Philips, Canon, General Electric, DRTech, Mindray, Lowenstein, Roche Diagnostic.
During the report, the main effects of the ongoing work on the centralization of the purchase of medical equipment were announced - equipment in accordance with the level of medical care, updating the fleet of medical equipment, ensuring the achievement of indicators of National projects, improving service maintenance, equal access to medical care for the population of all regions of the country, reducing costs and budget savings.
Previously, the Single Distributor prepared detailed material on the centralized procurement system and its stages, you can read it here.
At the end of the meeting, an exchange of views took place, the meeting participants outlined the problematic aspects of drug supply from the prism of the public and voiced proposals for improving the drug supply system, which will be considered by the Single Distributor individually.
The Chairman of the Board, in turn, thanked all the participants of the meeting for their interest, which helps to identify the pressing problems of the industry and noted the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation.
It is worth noting that the Single Distributor site regularly raises questions from civil society, and openly discusses the pressing problems of drug provision of the population in order to make the necessary recommendations.
A single distributor is open to direct dialogue and interaction, is set for close cooperation and constructive dialogue, so that each valuable proposal finds practical implementation and becomes a useful tool for improving the provision of medicines to Kazakhstanis.
