With its Central Medical Services Society (CMSS) likely to kickstart soon, the Union Health Ministry is hoping to streamline procurement and proper distribution of quality medicines, vaccines, contraceptives and medical equipments to the States and in the process also eliminate corruption, shortages and wastages.
Sources in the Ministry said that the CMSS will be able to begin the process of drug procurement in next two to three months as all the necessary infrastructure such as human resources and warehouses for establishing the organisation is in a final stages.Set up in March 2012 to streamline the drug procurement and distribution system of the department of Health and Family Welfare, the Society will function as an independent, professional and autonomous agency for purchasing all medicines, vaccines, contraceptives and medical equipments for all the Government’s flagship health programmes.
The CMSS will be responsible for procuring medicines and other medical products for the health sector in the country in a transparent and cost-effective manner and distributing them to the State/UT Govern-ments by setting up IT enabled supply chain infrastructure including State warehouses in 50 locations in country for national-level programmes, said the official.
Once this body start operating, the Department of Family Welfare will seize to procure the drugs as has been doing till now.“At present, the Health Ministry is purchasing drugs, vaccines, contraceptives and medical equipments departmentally and through procurement agents for its various disease control programmes.
“However, certain deficiencies, such as inadequate professional procurement expertise, absence of supply chain management system, manual collection of data and absence of any credible Management Information System have been adversely affecting the procurement system,” said sources.