The Ministry of Health has stopped purchasing antiretroviral drugs for the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN). Now tenders more than 1.5 billion rubles. each year the agency will conduct independently. As it became known to “Kommersant”, the structure of “Rostec” “Natsimbio” can become a single supplier of drugs for FSIN. In this case, because of the pause in the conduct of auctions, patients are already afraid of interruptions in treatment.

The Ministry of Health started the second stage of state procurement of drugs against HIV, hepatitis B, C and tuberculosis. In April 2019, the ministry announced 26 auctions worth 8.8 billion rubles, which follows from government procurement materials. At the same time, according to the organization "Treatment Preparedness Coalition", there is no FSIN among the recipients of the second stage tenders. Since the centralization of government procurement of antiretroviral drugs in 2017, the Ministry of Health has been purchasing the appropriate drugs for the FSIN. But on March 1, 2019, a resolution of the government of the Russian Federation came into force, according to which the department was excluded from the program.

In order to avoid interruptions in the supply of antiretroviral drugs to institutions under the authority of the Federal Penitentiary Service, in January and February, the Ministry of Health purchased medicines for them, the Treatment Preparedness Coalition notes. Now the service should conduct tenders independently, but, according to the materials of public procurement, auctions have not yet been announced. According to the Coalition for Treatment Preparedness, in 2018 the Ministry of Health purchased antiretroviral drugs worth 20.5 billion rubles, of which 1.63 billion rubles. had on drugs for the FSIN.

According to two sources of “Kommersant” on the pharmaceutical market, the structure of Rostec, Natsimbio, can become the sole supplier of antiretroviral drugs for FSIN. In 2014, by order of the government of the Russian Federation, Natsimbio received the status of a single supplier for FSIN drugs and medical products, which was subsequently extended until 2018. In 2018, more than 40 contracts worth almost 1 billion rubles were concluded between the FSIN and Natsimbio. In addition, the Rostec structure is the sole supplier of vaccines under the National Preventive Vaccination Calendar program. DSM Group CEO Sergei Shulyak sees nothing surprising in the possible appointment of Natsimbio as a single supplier of antiretroviral drugs for FSIN. Rostec has repeatedly put forward ambitious proposals to give Natsimbio the status of a single supplier of these drugs, not only for the needs of the FSIN, but also for all centralized procurement of the Ministry of Health, he recalls.

The head of the monitoring department of the Treatment Preparedness Coalition, Alexei Mikhailov, notes that the supply of drugs for FSIN within the framework of centralized procurement by the Ministry of Health went almost uninterruptedly: “It is unclear why it was necessary to change this system.” According to him, thanks to the first stage of procurement of antiretroviral drugs by the Ministry of Health in institutions under the jurisdiction of the FPS, there are still enough medical supplies. But, if in the near future the service does not declare independent auctions, there may be interruptions in the provision of prisoners with necessary drugs, Mr. Mikhailov predicts. The press service of the Federal Penitentiary Service and Natsimbio did not answer the questions of Kommersant. The press service of the Ministry of Health explained to “Kommersant” that at the beginning of May the ministry had concluded contracts for the supply of antiretroviral drugs for FSIN in the amount of more than 634 million rubles, about 940 million rubles more. submitted for redistribution. The ministry also noted that to increase the coverage of antiretroviral therapy in the penitentiary system, measures are being taken based on clinical recommendations with the participation of specialists from the Ministry of Health.

According to the Coalition for Treatment Readiness, since the beginning of 2019, the Ministry of Health has announced more than 60 auctions for the purchase of antiretroviral drugs worth more than 16 billion rubles. In the first stage of the procurement, 36 auctions were published, for which 31 contracts were concluded. Due to the lack of bids, there are five auctions worth 659 million rubles. did not take place, noted in the organization. According to Mr. Shulyak, the desire of the Ministry of Health to save money often makes auction conditions unprofitable for suppliers, which is why they do not submit applications for participation. And most often distributors are not for small tenders worth tens of millions of rubles for the supply of inexpensive drugs, he said.