Translated material
Zurabov complex
In January 2008, Russia may again face a shortage of drugs under the DLO program
Mikhail Zurabov is no longer at the head of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, he was replaced by Tatyana Golikova . But in January 2008 , Russian beneficiaries may again face a shortage in pharmacies of many drugs that are legally due to them free of charge. Avoiding another drug scandal , and even just before the presidential elections, is possible only in one case: if authorized suppliers are identified no later than mid-November. To do this, the date of their competitive selection must be announced this week. However, it will be very difficult to hold competitions in a timely manner - officials responsible in the center and regions for preparing for the tenders were at first “paralyzed” by growing rumors about the resignation of the Minister of Health and Social Development, and then began to prepare for new reshuffles. The consequence of this “paralysis of power” was the unavailability of standard documentation necessary for conducting tenders.Let us remind you that local administrations together with regional branches of the Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare and Social Development (Roszdravnadzor) and territorial compulsory health insurance funds (TFFOMS) must organize the purchase of medicines for the additional drug supply program (ADS) this year. Unlike last year, when authorized program providers were selected in Moscow through open competitions, this time the selection mechanism has been significantly modified. First, local purchasing auctions must determine distributors who will have to ensure the supply of drugs to pharmacy warehouses in the regions. And then companies will be selected through competitions that will deliver preferential medicines from warehouses to end consumers.
This algorithm fully complies with Federal Law No. 94 of July 21, 2005 on the placement of government orders. But the procedure for holding tenders and competitions is not spelled out in any way either in this document or in the by-laws. The lack of practical recommendations and methodological manuals for holding auctions casts doubt on the possibility of organizing them in many regions, experts say. “Approximately 40% of the country’s regions do not have the necessary organizational resources to develop competitive documentation,” independent pharmaceutical market analyst Yuri Krestinsky, who recently worked at the Ministry of Health and Social Development, told Vremya Novostey.
Unlike Moscow, St. Petersburg and several other prosperous regions, in a number of regions organizational preparations for bidding on DLOs have not even begun. The relevant ministry did not provide the necessary advisory support. “In a good way, it would be correct to develop a universal draft of auction documentation,” says Mr. Krestinsky, who believes that in many regions of the federation there simply is not a sufficient number of specialists capable of calculating how it is more profitable, for example, to form auction lots: by trade names of drugs or by non-proprietary international names, by manufacturers or by pharmacotherapeutic groups of drugs.
Difficulties may also arise due to the two-stage selection system for pharmaceutical companies - program partners. After all, many large distributors with large regional networks will probably want to act as both regional and retail contractors. At the Protek implementation center, which has already faced pressure from law enforcement agencies, they fear that in some regions, in the turmoil that will inevitably arise due to time pressure, the authorities will simply try to combine the two competitions, although this is illegal. “For us, as a market participant, it is extremely important for the regional authorities to understand that the auction for the purchase of medicines should be held separately from the competition for the provision of pharmacy services to beneficiaries,” the company told Vremya Novostei. Now the specialists of this distributor are closely monitoring the competition movement in the regions, but so far they have not observed any “signs of life”.
Meanwhile, deadlines are already running out. “The law stipulates that the start date of the procurement auction must be set and published in the media no less than 30 days before the opening of the envelope with participants’ applications. Review of applications should take no more than 20 days, and the final selection of winners should take a maximum of ten more days. After the protocol on winning the auction is signed, at least ten more days are allocated to verify the winners. With the most accelerated viewing, all this will take two months,” Victoria Sokolova, director of the marketing research department of the analytical company Remedium RMBC, calculated for Vremya Novostei. “The development of documentation alone will take at least two weeks. It’s already physically impossible to make it,” says Yuri Krestinsky.
However, the rush and the resulting confusion have already become a tradition of competitions for DLO suppliers. At the very beginning of the monetization of benefits, suppliers were selected in a matter of days; last year, auctions took place against the backdrop of arrests of officials of the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund and also in the shortest possible time. Then the open competition ended only in early December. Therefore, the FFOMS and Roszdravnadzor are not at all inclined to dramatize the situation, although they admit that “the situation has sagged” due to the fact that the Ministry of Health and Social Development has not developed a methodology for organizing the competition. Vremya Novostei's source in the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund assured that the procurement auctions can be completed in a month, admitting, however, that hitches may arise when it comes to the form of concluding contracts - it has also not yet been approved.
Some regional distributors, accustomed to working under tight deadlines, are also taking the situation calmly. “In order to provide the region with medicines in January, auctions must be held no later than December 1,” says Olga Khabibulina, development director of the authorized supplier of the North-Western Federal District of BSS LLC. This will most likely happen, she believes. Of course, it will not be easy in December, since all Western companies no longer work after the twentieth. “Now we are at the start and ready to make a breakthrough,” Ms. Khabibulina told Vremya Novostey. Whether the enthusiasm of individual DLO participants will help cover administrative gaps will be clear in a month.