A study of the Ministry of Public Health’s procurement system by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) specialists has determined that it is at the second level of maturity in a five-tier system.
This was revealed at a press conference yesterday by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Collette Adams.
The five-tier supply chain maturity system ranges from the Canvas level, which is the lowest, to Bronze, then Silver, then Gold and then Accredited.
The Ministry has experienced a series of procurement problems including fraud, leaking of information to bidders and breach of procurement regulations. These problems forced several changes in how the ministry has addressed procurement. On top of all of this there have been numerous reports of shortages of essential drugs at various points over the last four years.
