A traditional meeting of the public working group at The Unified distributor SK-Pharmaceuticals LLP, which includes representatives of civil society and industry experts, took place.
It is worth noting that The Unified distributor holds annual meetings with the public working group. So, over the entire period, 8 meetings have already taken place.
A patient-oriented approach and a listening healthcare system are the main principles in the activities of The Unified distributor. The key tool in this direction is feedback from the public, which acts as a bridge between citizens and the state, representing their interests.
During the dialogue, all current issues in the field of drug supply are discussed and proposals and recommendations are developed for the implementation of best practices both in the centralized procurement system and in the industry as a whole.
As you know, the activities of public councils and working groups are a tool to ensure openness, transparency and control by citizens. Involving the public in the company's activities as an effective tool for improving the drug supply system and healthcare in general.
The head of The Unified distributor, Erkhat Iskaliev, welcomed the social activists and noted the importance of conducting a constructive dialogue between the parties to identify problems in socially significant issues and develop recommendations for solving them.
On the agenda, the meeting participants touched on a number of current topics of drug supply and the unified distribution system. First of all, the discussion was about the development strategy of The Unified distributor for 2024-2028.
The main goals of the strategy are to ensure uninterrupted supply of medicines within the framework of the guaranteed volume of free medical care, compulsory social health insurance and the mobilization reserve, as well as improving the corporate governance system and ensuring the financial stability of The Unified distributor. The fundamental principle is patient-centric drug provision.
The development strategy covers various areas, one of the key ones is the creation of logistics infrastructure, through the construction of our own warehouses, the capacity of which will ensure high quality storage of medicines purchased both within the framework of the guaranteed volume of free medical care, compulsory social health insurance, and for the creation of a mobilization reserve.
And to improve the corporate governance system and ensure financial stability, The Unified distributor has set tasks to develop human capital and manage corporate communications, integrate process management systems, internal control and risks, as well as meet financial performance indicators up to 100%.
Next, the public was introduced to the procurement of medicines and medical products for 2024. Medical organizations in the country have announced 1,689 types of medicines for purchase this year. Savings based on the results of centralized procurement amounted to 30 billion tenge.
Considering the particular importance of uninterrupted supply of medicines, during the meeting systemic measures were announced to improve the uninterrupted supply of drugs. The first is the purchase of medicines in the amount of three-year requirements.
Also, it is proposed to introduce into the requirements planning methodology requirements for the mandatory formation of demand calculations taking into account the creation of a reserve of at least a month. Changes are proposed to be introduced into the Order of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. KR DSM-210/2020 regarding the revision of approaches to the formation of a budget request.
The next topic for discussion was the Efficiency Program of The Unified distributor, which was developed in pursuance of the decree of the Head of State “On measures to improve the efficiency of attracting investment to the country’s economy.” The key objectives of the Efficiency Program are to improve procurement, reduce costs, ensure maximum drug safety and prevent bureaucracy.
As for attracting investments, The Unified distributor, being an operator for the purchase and supply of medicines, plays an important role in attracting global players to the domestic market, constantly working with a number of BigPharma companies. To date, there are already positive results.
Thus, the driver of 2024 was the breakthrough signing of long-term contracts with pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Roche for the contract production of original innovative drugs in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Another innovation was the initiative to conduct group procurement, which was consolidated in the form of a Memorandum concluded between The Unified distributor and the Kyrgyzpharmacy State Enterprise under the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic.
In addition, agreements were signed with Johnson & Johnson, Bayer and AstraZeneca for the development of contract manufacturing of medicines and technology transfer in the field of clinical trials. Also, an agreement was reached with the BIOCAD company, which is interested in investing in new pharmaceutical production in Kazakhstan.
A separate topic for discussion was the centralization of the purchase of medical equipment. The Unified distributor centrally purchases modern, expensive equipment, the cost of which starts from 20 million tenge.
Over the entire period, 702 units of medical equipment were centrally purchased for the amount of 79.8 billion tenge. In 2023 alone, auctions were held for the purchase of 525 units of medical equipment worth almost 60 billion tenge.
It is worth noting that centralization of procurement and consolidation of demand volumes from all regions allows for budget savings. As a result, based on procurement results for 2023, savings amounted to 4.3 billion tenge. And over the entire period, this amount reached 7.4 billion tenge.
In addition, active work is underway with global vendors on the localization and contract production of medical equipment in Kazakhstan using the mechanisms of long-term contracts, offtake contracts, leasing mechanisms and “life cycle” contracts.
Thus, a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of improving the quality of medical care was concluded between the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Royal Philips. And between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and GE Healthcare a framework agreement was concluded on the basic principles for the implementation of an investment project to organize the production of high-tech diagnostic medical equipment GE HealthCare in Kazakhstan.
Based on the results of all the presentations, social activists expressed their opinions and asked pressing questions of interest both regarding the reports and in terms of drug provision, which will be included in the “Book of Problematic Issues”.
In addition, a number of proposals were voiced by social activists to improve the medical care system and ensure broad and active participation of civil society in the work carried out by The Unified distributor.
One of the proposals from social activists was the purchase of drugs for children only from original production, which will significantly affect the quality of life of young patients. This will also lead to efficient use of the budget due to the elimination of the share of potential side effects in children, for the treatment of which certain drugs are also required.
A meeting was initiated with the participation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and representatives of the National Center of Expertise for further elaboration of the issues raised at the meeting. Social activists noted a clear position on the need to delegate responsibilities and tasks between the authorized body and its subordinate organizations.
At the end of the meeting, members of the public working group expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be heard and raise pressing issues in the industry. Also, the need to create a work plan was voiced to determine clear tasks and ways to jointly implement them for the near future.
The Unified distributor, in turn, is open to direct dialogue and interaction, committed to close cooperation and constructive dialogue so that each valuable proposal finds practical implementation and is a useful tool for improving the industry and the healthcare system as a whole.
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