OECS Secretariat, Castries, Saint. Lucia April 24th, 2009: Consumers in the OECS are in a position to gain from reduced prices recently obtained for additional medical products under the OECS PPS bulk purchasing arrangement.  

Officials from the OECS Pharmaceutical Procurement Service (OECS PPS) have observed that in some cases among newly tendered items, quotations for generic products were ten times less expensive than their branded counterpart. This development has come out of a recent meeting where the OECSPPS awarded contracts for 31 new products to its list of medical supplies. 

Director of the OECS PPS Francis Burnett is confident that consumers in the OECS stand to benefit from the low costs associated with the expanded variety of medical products: “The news for the consumer is that the unit cost of those items would be obtained at a greatly reduced price and those countries where there is a cost to patients, the acquisition cost by patients will be lowered because some governments charge patients the cost of the products with a very small mark up.

So those items will now be procured at a relatively low cost and in most instances where governments charge patients, those savings will be passed over to the consumer.” Burnett cited examples such as drugs to treat hypertension among the new quotations which were ten times less expensive.  

In another development, OECS nephrologists and related health care workers have agreed on the need to buy dialysis products in bulk. 

This follows a meeting on Friday April 17th in St. Lucia to discuss a feasibility study by the OECS PPS on the pooled procurement of dialysis products for the sub-regional grouping. Burnett told the OECS News Link the member countries are moving closer towards reducing government expenditure for the treatment of persons on dialysis: “The delegates agreed that the regional initiative is desirable. It was a unanimous decision, especially against the background of the worldwide depression and economic recession, that it is desirable for us to accelerate plans to implement the pooled procurement of dialysis products.” 

A steering committee has been appointed to work on a report which is to go before OECS Ministers for Health at a meeting of the OECS PPS Policy Board in September 2009. A nephrologist is chairing the multi-disciplinary committee which also consists of a clinical care nurse, a procurement officer and a nurse manager: The committee will assist the OECS PPS in revising its data base on payments by OECS Member States for dialysis products. It will also help to assess the annual quantity of dialysis products. In addition, the committee will have a critical look at existing service contracts between suppliers and countries: “This committee through its chairman the nephrologist will present a report to the 23rd meeting of the OECS PPS Policy Board in Montserrat and work towards having a clear framework as to how they can hopefully begin the procurement of dialysis products for 2010-2012.”-Burnett 

The OECS PPS is the bulk purchasing agency of Pharmaceuticals for OECS Member States and has been in existence for the past 23 years.