Insabi calls for the purchase of drugs not assigned in the December tender

angeles cruz martinez

Newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, January 10, 2023, p. 17

The Institute of Health for Well-being (Insabi) issued a call for the purchase of medicines, whose keys were abandoned in the tender that concluded last December. This second, also for the supply of 2023 and 2024, includes the acquisition of healing material and diagnostic agents, among other supplies.

Juan de Villafranca, executive president of the Mexican Association of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Amelaf), considered that it is a positive action, unlike what happened with the United Nations Office for Project Services (Unops): the keys that remained deserted they forgotwhich has forced health institutions to make direct purchases at a higher cost.

Now Insabi seeks to acquire, through the electronic open international public tender number LA-12-M7B-012M7B997-I-1-2023, just over 250 drug codes that for different reasons were not assigned to any supplier last year.

With these, plus other inputs, Insabi seeks to purchase 639 keys requested by the Mexican Institutes of Social Security, Security and Social Services for State Workers, the Ministry of Health, Insabi, the Decentralized Administrative Body for Prevention and Social Rehabilitation, the Commission Coordinator of the National Institutes of Health and High Specialty Hospitals and the National Guard. However, De Villafranca commented, according to the pharmaceutical industry, the volumes of products requested by the Insabi call are below the historical demand by at least 40 percent. In other words, the acquisitions for the following two years are insufficient, which will lead to completing inventories through direct purchases. This occurred in the contest held at the end of 2022. For this reason, he proposed, after the second tender, the assigned volumes and the real demand of the following two years must be analyzed.

From the call published in Compranet, it stands out that the deadlines are short. Thus, today the clarification meeting will take place, on Tuesday the 17th will be the presentation and opening of proposals and on January 27 the ruling will be announced.

De Villafranca recognized Insabi’s work, but also pointed out that the lack of payments to suppliers persists. Although the agency acknowledges the debt, it has not been able to resolve administrative and operational issues to catch up with each of the companies.