Institute Alternative (IA) sent the Initiative for a joint hearing on the topic of public procurement in healthcare to the Committee for Economy, Finance and Budget, and the Committee for Health, Labour and Social Welfare of the Parliament of Montenegro.
At today’s session of the Committee for Economy, Finance, and Budget, the President of the Committee, Mirsad Nurković, introduced the members of the Committee to this initiative. Member of this Committee and President of the Committee for Health, Labor and Social Welfare Dražen Petrić pointed out that in communication with Nurković, they will agree on the details of the organisation of this hearing.
The goal of the hearing is to obtain more information from all relevant actors, especially in light of allegations about the senselessness of the procedure for public procurement of medicines due to the limited number of bidders in Montenegro.
The immediate reason for this hearing is, among other things, that according to media reports, there are 906 branded medicines on the basic, supplemental, and special regime list of medicines, which are paid for by the Health Insurance Fund, and it is alleged that even 92 percent of the mentioned medicines representative or authorised distributor “Glosarij”, with subsidiary companies “Glosarij CD” and “Medica”.
In its latest report for Montenegro, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pointed out some of the problems in this area, namely that it is necessary to improve the efficiency of spending in the health sector, and that it is important to limit pharmaceutical expenditures, which reached 2.5% of GDP in 2022.
We remind the public that more than a decade ago, a joint consultative hearing of these committees was held, but unfortunately, there was no conclusion, that is, a joint report with recommendations for solving the problem.
We urge that this hearing be organised with quality preparation that will allow clear recommendations to be articulated for changing policies, regulations, and practices in this area. Institute Alternative is at the disposal of MPs and the services of the Parliament in terms of data on budget spending and concluded procurement contracts.
