SHC orders Sindh govt to issue fresh tender

Petitioner claimed hepatitis vaccines were being bought at a higher price

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed on Thursday the Sindh government to float a fresh tender for the procurement of medicines for the prevention of hepatitis B and C under the national programme to control and prevent the disease.

A single bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, also ordered the chief secretary, the health secretary, the director-general for health services and manager of the Hepatitis Prevention and Control Programme to award the contract in accordance with the laws.

“The state is the trustee of all the amounts of the state (public money). These trustees should act in a manner that is transparent and the paramount consideration should be to protect the financial interests of the state,” observed the bench in a judgement pronounced on Thursday as the bench had earlier reserved its verdict on March 6.

A local pharmaceutical company which was among the rejected bidders, Getz Pharma, had approached the court to restrain the health authorities from purchasing the medicines from foreign companies at rates higher than those available in the local market.

In the judgement, the bench declared that the ousting of any party contesting the bidding process on the condition of not meeting the FDA/EMA qualification would amount to discrimination and subsequently be a violation of Articles 18 and 25 of the Constitution.

Govt’s plea rejected

Earlier, the bench had rejected the health department’s request to allow partial purchase of the hepatitis medicine from the two multinational companies during the course of the proceedings, observing that the court was hearing the case as high priority.

The high court observed that there was no justified reason to procure the medicines from a foreign company at a price of Rs5,000 or more when they were available at the rate of Rs2,100 in the local market.

“Since the medicines in question are required for hepatitis patients on priority basis, the Sindh government may opt to float the tender afresh for procurement in accordance with relevant laws and on the basis of observations made in the order,” the bench ordered.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2015.