The mechanism for buying medicines and medical consumables for the needs of the health system is defective and needs to be urgently improved, said the director of the Center for Human Rights of Moldova (CpDOM) Anatolie Munteanu, quoted by IPN.

In a press release, Anatolie Munteanu notes that the acquisition of medicines became a heavy burden for patients because they have to purchase medicines at a rather high price at a time when these medicines must be provided by the public medical-sanitary institution.

According to officials of the Ministry of Health, the factors that led to a shortage of medicines in the national hospitals include the lack of communication between the medical institutions, the Public Procurement Agency and the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices, the non-observance of the contractual obligations by some of the sides, and the depreciation of the national currency. The CpDOM director warns that such situations can repeat over the next few years if the drug purchasing system is not modified.

The ombudsman said the current mechanism for holding public tender contests for purchasing drugs is designed to ensure the efficient use of the money available in the health system. But one of the priorities in healthcare, namely the guaranteeing of the patients’ access to safe drugs of a high quality, is ignored. Immediate measures should be taken to improve the mechanism for buying medicines.