Bosnia and Herzegovina will not procure drugs for the treatment of coronavirus patients through a large European procurement of medicines launched in the middle of last month because it did not submit data on its needs by the time the procurement was announced, is confirmed for the Balkan Research Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH) from the European Commission and the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It was explained to BIRN BiH that Bosnia and Herzegovina, due to the complexity of our administrative system, did not send in time the lists of medicines for the European public call for the procurement of medicines that are considered to help treat the COVID-19 infection, BHRT reports.
Healthcare facilities explain that they have sufficient quantities of some medicines, mainly thanks to donations or purchases they have made themselves, but that for some time now they have been emphasizing the need for the currently most popular medicine for treating coronavirus patients – remdesivir.
When BIRN BiH previously wrote about drugs procured by BiH under the Joint Public Procurement Agreement for Medical Countermeasures (JPA), the Bosnian Ministry of Civil Affairs said that “drugs will appear in BiH as soon as all procedures are completed”.
A month and a half later, a European tender was announced, but BiH is not participating in it.
Ana Pisonero, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, confirmed to BIRN BiH that BiH had not expressed interest in a recently announced tender for the procurement of medicines.
“BiH is neither included in the procurement of medicines needed for intensive care units, which was announced on June 17, nor has it expressed interest in the upcoming procurement so far. Procurement of other equipment, such as tests and protective medical equipment, is still under consideration. This was the only tender related to the procurement of medicines, announced from April of the current year until today “, says Pisonero.
