The National Health Security Office (NHSO) has proposed to rewrite the terms of reference and specifications of antigen test kits (ATKs) to be procured by the government following the prime minister's instructions that the products must be endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Kriangsak Watcharanukulkiat, head of the NHSO's working committee on public health expenses under the universal healthcare scheme, said the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO), which conducted bidding for the ATKs, can terminate the ToR used in the recent bidding and start a new selection process to comply with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's instructions.
Dr Kriangsak said the GPO can call new bidding using the specifications drawn up by his committee or it can ask the panel to draw up a new ToR for the procurement.
The NHSO earlier requested that the GPO adopt a "specific purchase" method to procure 8.5 million ATKs for the sake of test kit quality instead of a bidding method which can achieve the lowest cost but where quality may be compromised.
Dr Kriangsak said that if the GPO opts for any of this using the "specific purchase" method, the procurement scheme will not be delayed.
He is sceptical that the e-bidding process undertaken by the GPO to find a supplier of 8.5 million ATK sets is appropriate under the circumstances.
The test kits will be used for the government's mass Covid-19 testing and Ostland Capital won the bidding with an offer of 70 baht a set of Lepu ATK.
The Lepu ATK was banned in the US, though the GPO and Ostland Capital said the ban was due to the product not being officially approved by the US FDA. They insisted the product has passed several international and local examinations in terms of quality standards.
However, the premier gave instructions at the Tuesday cabinet meeting that ATKs procured for Thailand have to be endorsed by the WHO.
This has raised a question as to whether the procurement of Lepu ATKs breaks the prime minister's instructions because the Lepu ATK has not been endorsed by WHO.
Dr Kriangsak said that under the specifications drawn up by the NHSO, two ATK brands meet the qualifications and both have been approved by WHO.
Meanwhile, Ostland Capital and World Medical Alliance, the bid winner, on Thursday submitted a letter to the prime minister, saying his instructions could hinder the contract signing between the firm and the GPO.
They said the Chinese-made ATK sets from Lepu Medical Technology have not been approved by the WHO and the ToR used in the e-bidding process does not make WHO-approval a requirement.
Siriya Thepcharoen, executive of the World Medical Alliance, said the firms have submitted an open letter to the prime minister about the ATK procurement scheme.
In a related development, the Rural Doctor Society wrote on its Facebook page that politicians were lobbying the cabinet to withdraw the WHO-approved requirement from the ATK procurement.
