The Tripoli based Libyan Ministry of Health announced that it had finally succeeded in implementing a public tender for the import of medicines. The government had failed to launch a tender process for about a decade.
The announcement came during the speech of the Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Minister of Health, Ramadan Abu Janah, during the joint press conference he held with the Director of the Pharmacy Department of the Ministry of Health, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Medical Supply Organisation (MSO), and the Chairman of the Public Tender Committee.
The Acting Health Minister admitted that had Libyans suffered for many years from a scarcity of medicines because of the failure of the state to import them.
He said after he took office at the Ministry of Health, he had found the public tender inactive. He said the previous government had taken a decision to implement a public tender in 2019, but it was not implemented. He said his ministry had succeeded in activating it after forming a committee to review the tender in coordination with the Audit Bureau, which was strongly supportive of the project.
Acting Health Minister Abu Janah said his ministry had succeeded in signing contracts with international companies to provide high-quality medical supplies according to the needs of the Libyan state for specialized and general medicines and supplies, and to manufacture them from international companies specifically for the Libyan state.
The announcement was made during the fasting month of Ramadan on 4 April.
