More than 100 experts in the HIV/AIDS response area from all over the country convened at a round table in Bishkek (Kyrgyz Republic) on November 13 to discuss the issues of increasing access to medicines and ensuring the transparent functioning of medical institutions. The meeting was organized by the East Europe and Central Asia Union of People Living with HIV and the “Partner Network” Association.
The importance of the declared round table topic is based on the fact that the Kyrgyzstan state budget expenditures for the procurement of medicines are soaring against the background of donor funding withdrawal. At the same time a number of serious problems with medications supply still exist: a monopoly on essential medicines, an unfriendly registration system, a complete lack of encouragement policies. The transparency of public procurement is the most important issue. All these factors contribute to a considerable difference between the real and nominal procurement cost of drugs and cause shortages of some of them.
Government officials, KAP NGOs, leading country and international HIV/AIDS experts, as well as representatives of UN agencies convened together in the Kyrgyz capital to participate in an open dialogue on the quality of procurement of life-saving medicines, as well as transparency and effectiveness of procedures related to them. Discussions of the round table focused on the progress achieved in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Aybar Sultangaziev, the leader of the Consortium of the KAP Organizations in Kyrgyzstan within the framework of the regional PARTNERSHIP program and the head of the “Partnership Network” Association, presented the results of essential medicines procurement quality monitoring, transparency and efficiency of procedures related to procurement, and outlined recommendations for expanding access to treatment in the country. During the discussions, the experience of other countries of the EECA region in improving the efficiency in coordinating the procurement of essential medicines was considered. The roundtable closed with the initiative to amend the Law on Public Procurement and establish a working group on the development of the law on Oversight Councils in the national level medical institutions.
It’s worth mentioning that this is the second round table of the four planned within the framework of the Regional Program “Partnership for the Equal Access to the Continuum of HIV Care for All Who Need It in the EECA Region”, implemented in Kyrgyzstan by the East Europe and Central Asia Union of People Living with HIV (ECUO PLWH) in partnership with the Consortium of Organizations of the Kyrgyz Republic with the support of the Global Fund.
The first round table was held in Moldova on November 10. Until the end of the month, similar meetings will be held in Kazakhstan and Lithuania.