Government hospitals have purchased Meropenem 1 g injection, which is known as an essential life-saving drug, at a higher price, incurring a cost of Rs 49.52 million, while causing inordinate delays in supplying the drug.
The National Audit Office, in their latest report, revealed that the drug could have been bought at 481 rupees per unit in the year 2021. However, eventually, the authorities had given the nod to purchase the drug at varying prices, ranging from 1956 to 4697 rupees per unit from the local market. The audit report has revealed that it has taken approximately 02 years to receive the stock of this drug due to the failure to follow proper planning in the procurement process. The purchase order was issued on February 06, 2020 for the purchase of this drug. Due to this delay, the government hospitals had to pay an exorbitantly high price when purchasing the medicine.
Initially, the tender was awarded for half of the required stock because the bidder chosen after a 20-month procurement process was a new supplier in the market. The authorities have spent another four months awarding the remaining 50% of the order. The order issued for this medicine on February 23, 2021 for the year 2022 was still at the evaluation level. For these reasons, according to the report issued by the National Audit Office, the drug was available in sufficient stocks for less than a month for the medical supply department and government hospitals by April 22, 2022.
