Health Purchase Exposes Many Lapses!

News reports on the Health Ministry’s purchase of China-made ventilators during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. It exposed the shortcuts, the weaknesses and the shortcomings in government procurement and in the process, the malaise in the system.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in its report said the Health Ministry and Pharmaniaga had been blaming each other for 104 faulty ventilators they received from China. There was no contractual agreement signed.

The PAC report also revealed that the Health Ministry’s legal adviser was not consulted before the ministry issued a letter of appointment to Pharmaniaga. The PAC report has also raised more questions than answers.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

In a separate matter, the PAC report states that the Ministry of Health (MOH) procured vaccines based on projected demand, resulting in an excess of vaccines due to decreased vaccination demand, delays in receiving vaccine supplies, and donations from foreign countries. 

In total, Malaysia received 82.85 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccines up until April 2022, based on a forecast of 83.3 million doses required by the population.  This includes 51.8 million doses required across 80% of the population to achieve herd immunity, combined with 31.5 million doses of booster shots for adults (two doses) and adolescents (one dose).  

To reduce the wastage from expired vaccines, Malaysia provided 1.89 million doses to other countries such as Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and also took steps to promote booster shots and improve public access for them, the report said. 

The report from PAC regarding the management of the Covid-19 outbreak revealed that the exact cost of the 8.5 million expired Covid-19 vaccine doses totalled RM505 million. While the expiration date had been extended up to 18 months from the production date of the Covid-19 vaccine, as of June 1, 2023, 8.5 million vaccine doses worth RM505 million had still expired," read the report, which was published on the official Parliament website.

Wastage, wastage, wastage and no consequences. Meanwhile, should we think of more taxes to fund wastage?

References:

Comment: Ventilator purchase exposes many lapses, R Nadeswaran, Malaysiakini, 1 November 2023

RM505 mil loss due to 8.5 mil expired Covid-19 vaccine doses, PAC report reveals, Choy Nyen Yiau, theedgemalaysia.com, 30 October 2023