Opening Remarks by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti
Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh JAGUTPAL, the Minister of Health and Wellness of Mauritius,
Mrs Usha DWARKA-CANABADY, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Mauritius to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva,
Mrs Devi Chand Anandi Rye SEEWOORUTHUN, the Senior Chief Executive, Ministry of Health and Wellness of Mauritius,
Dr Anne Ancia, our WHO Representative in Mauritius,
Distinguished guests and delegates,
Colleagues from the WHO Regional Office for Africa,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I’m pleased to join you today to mark this occasion.
Since signing the pooled procurement agreement on 29 September 2020, it’s been a long but exciting journey to the first pooled procurement tender.
These results have shown that through pooled procurement, the factory prices for the 67 formulations in the tender are, on average, 56% lower than the historical prices paid by the SIDS. This is a tremendous achievement and proves the power of collective bargaining when procuring medicines on the international market.
I sincerely thank all the SIDS health ministers for their commitment to this cause to reduce medicine procurement costs and improve access to quality and effective medicines among the SIDS populations.
Thank you, Minister Jagutpal and your team, for working tirelessly to finalize the Long-Term Agreement and being the first country to do so. I encourage you to maximise this opportunity by using the offered prices, valid for two years and renewable for another year.
I congratulate you again, Minister, on your election to host the SIDS pooled procurement secretariat. As Mauritius works to make the secretariat functional, we will provide the needed technical advice, starting with finalizing the hosting agreement, to be shared with other SIDS health ministers.
Signing this Agreement between you and Angel Biogenics—one of the six suppliers selected—is a huge milestone. It is a first of its kind, and I hope other countries will follow soon.
We have signed long-term agreements with the six suppliers to reduce prices for other countries in the region. This is another significant benefit of the initiative.
Lessons from this experience, I’m confident, will inform other regional pooled procurement plans and the work of the African Medicines Agency.
Let me assure you, my team and I are absolutely committed to this initiative. As the current process continues, we will also focus on assisting SIDS in working towards the next pooled procurement tender.
We’re reviewing the priority products and their specifications, quantities, and technical and regulatory requirements. A meeting is scheduled in July 2024 with the technical and procurement committees to finalize these arrangements.
Congratulations! Thank you.