/ world today news/ The Ministry of Health has wasted an entire year in its attempt to prepare the use of 5.8 million euros for the fight against tuberculosis.
This is clear from the implementation of the Program “Improving the sustainability of the National Tuberculosis Program”, the funding for which is provided by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, reported a BGNES reporter. The implementation period of the Program is October 1, 2015. – September 30, 2018, i.e. 25 months remain in which the funds must be properly utilized.
Bulgaria is one of the 18 high priority countries for tuberculosis in the European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) and one of the six countries in the European Union with more than 20 reported cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 population. In the period 2008 – September 30, 2015, two programs for improving tuberculosis control were implemented in our country. 1872 cases of tuberculosis were registered in 2014. , which shows a significant drop in levels since 2006. this way. To build on this success, the state concluded a Framework Agreement under which the Ministry of Health received 5.8 million euros for the period until September 2018. However, in 11 months, the Ministry of Health managed to launch only two public procurements to be relate directly to the fight against tuberculosis. However, both turn out to be vicious. Instead, the leadership of the Ministry of Health used the millions of euros to buy computer equipment, for seminars and food vouchers for the administration worth more than half a million leva.
On August 4, Health Minister Petar Moskov was forced to cancel a public order announced on June 30, which was for the supply of medical devices for automatic diagnosis of tuberculosis. It turns out that the documentation of the order, which is worth BGN 441,900, is wrong.
In mid-March, the Ministry of Health announced a public order for the supply of medical devices and personal protective equipment, which are also related to the implementation of the program to fight tuberculosis. The order has four separate items, and the total value is BGN 90,000, excluding VAT. It takes four months to end the procedure for two of the individual items. There is no selected supplier of containers for the collection of biological material and for disposable protective surgical masks. Contractors are selected for another type of masks, with respirators.
The Ministry of Health has not conducted other public procurements for medical devices, materials and medicines that are directly related to the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. However, at the expense of this, the Minister of Health Petar Moskov announced orders for the delivery of food vouchers to the employees who work under the program – a total of BGN 545,000, for cleaning their offices at 26 “Yanko Sakizov” blvd., floor 4 – for BGN 5,000, for out-of-warranty car service – BGN 23,000, including VAT.
It turns out that the program to fight tuberculosis is also successfully used for seminar activities by the Ministry of Health, and especially for the possibility of replacing computer equipment, as well as for the awarding of orders for advertising activities.
Already in January, the Ministry of Health announced an order for tour operator services for seminar activity worth BGN 66,000, excluding VAT. The procedure is won by a company that offers a price per night of BGN 493 for independent accommodation, but with a low rent of BGN 305 per hall for 100 people for one day. The paradox is that it takes the Ministry of Health six whole months to make the ranking on this order.
The fate of the procedure for selecting a contractor for design, pre-printing, printing and delivery of printed materials for the needs of the Program for the fight against tuberculosis is identical. The value of the order is also BGN 66,000, excluding VAT. The decision on the ranking of the contractor was uploaded to the website of the Ministry of Health at the end of June, however, the information about the concluded contract has not been published until now.
Meanwhile, a new public procurement has been announced. This time for the provision of office supplies, stationery, mineral water and hygiene materials for those working under the Program. The value of this order is BGN 66,000, excluding VAT. It turns out that for one of the specific positions – for the supply of mineral water worth BGN 9,000, not a single candidate appeared.
On July 4, the Minister of Health launched a public order for the supply of computer and office equipment with a total value of a quarter of a million BGN, excluding VAT. Peter Moskov is preparing to buy 80 desktop computer systems, 10 laptops, 24 scanners, 35 black and white printers, 15 color printers, as well as 6 multifunction devices and only 1 multimedia projector. The opening of bids for this order took place on Monday, August 15.
In the meantime, the health department also chooses an auditor for the program, to whom it will pay BGN 12,900 to certify the financial statements.
And while the leadership of the Ministry of Health, headed by Petar Moskov, takes care to provide new computers and team-building for the administration, the Summary of the Program “Improving the Sustainability of the National Tuberculosis Program” states that the target groups, i.e. beneficiaries should be people who inject drugs, people with alcohol addiction, people living with HIV, diabetics, Roma communities, homeless, patients, etc. Among the listed tasks are “increasing the scale of high-quality comprehensive care for tuberculosis, reducing the transmission of tuberculosis among the key affected population, improving the detection of tuberculosis cases and the success rate of treatment among the Roma population.”
The ambition is, through 5.8 million euros, which the Ministry of Health must absorb by the end of September 2018, to lay the foundations for a 40% reduction in tuberculosis patients in our country in 2025, compared to 2015.
BGNES recalls that in 2012, the current Deputy Minister of Health, Vanyo Sharkov, alerted Prime Minister Boyko Borisov about officials who received tens of thousands of euros in bonuses under the program to fight tuberculosis. In his capacity as a deputy, Sharkov announced that a driver in the Ministry of Health received a 5,880 euro bonus just because he was reported under the Program. It is not known whether this practice continues in the Ministry of Health to this day.
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