President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, allowed Heath Ministry to realize rapid purchases of medical goods — medicines, medical devices and medical equipment if necessary. The decision on such purchases is made by the Minister of Health and he is personally responsible for their validity.
Under the presidential decree №618 from November 17, 2008 «On state purchases in the Republic of Belarus», state procurements are carried out through the competition if their estimated cost amounts to 8 thousands basic values or more, Ezhednevnik informs.
The procedure for requesting cost proposals is provided when state procurements reach the amount of 1 to 8 thousand basic values, the procedure for competitive application sheet’s registration — from 50 to 1 thousand basic values, the procedure for procurement from a single source — from 50 basic values and more in the cases determined by the Council of Ministers of Belarus.
In epidemiological period in 2009, this procedure created a number of problems for Belarusian public health care system. After the spread of information about the epidemic of swine flu, the population began to buy medicines and remedies, and Health Ministry failed to provide citizens with all necessary. To avoid the recurrence of such a situation, the president of Belarus give the Minister of Health a right to take prompt decision on public procurement of medical goods without complying with above mentioned rules if necessary.
