Excerpt and Photo from afro.who.int
In a further move towards pooled procurement of essential medicines and medical products, Ministers of Health from small African islands states established a secretariat and elected Mauritius as the host, taking critical steps to launch joint operations for increased access to affordable, quality-assured and safe medicines and medical supplies.
The pooled procurement programme, signed in 2020 by Cabo Verde, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, Sao Tome & Principe and Seychelles, that form the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) from Africa, and endorsed by Madagascar, aims to coordinate the purchase of selected medicines and medical products affordably, harmonize medicines management systems, improve supplier performance and reduce procurement workload. The programme also sets the guiding principles and governance structure, including the creation of a secretariat, technical committees and a council of ministers.
The ministers, gathering for the 8th SIDS meeting in Victoria, Seychelles, took the new step to set up a secretariat as they embark on the final stages of the joint procurement initiative.