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PCR test kit PHOTO ©️AP[/caption]
By Maheesha Mudugamuwa
Along with the allegations levelled against the Health Ministry over the mismanagement during the purchasing of PCR test kits during the past few months, concerns have been raised over the entire procurement process applied when purchasing drugs and medical equipment.
As learnt by The Sunday Morning, there is no blanket approach applied for the purchase of medical drugs and equipment, especially with regard to the state sector, as in some instances, the hospitals directly purchase, while the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) and the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) are involved in the process as per requests made by the Health Ministry.
Health experts urged the Government to conduct a technical investigation into the entire procurement process followed by the Health Ministry.
In the meantime, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is conducting an investigation into an alleged PCR test kits racket which has been conducted by a group of officials attached to the Ministry of Health.
As of last week, the investigators have uncovered that payments had been made to purchase PCR test kits worth Rs. 38 million without following the proper tender process and without the approval of the Director General of Health Services (DGHS).
Further, it has been revealed that the PCR test kits procurement process has been granted to a friendly company under emergency purchasing on the assumption that the signature/approval from the DGHS could be obtained later.
A senior official attached to the Police Department, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Sunday Morning that the investigations were currently going on and several statements have been recorded by the CID as of now.
However, former DGHS Dr. Anil Jasinghe has refused to sign two such tender documents, the CID has uncovered.
According to the investigations, payments have been made to a German company for two tenders worth Rs. 16 million and Rs. 22 million, respectively. As per the tenders, the price of a PCR test kit is valued at around Rs. 4,000, while the actual price of the test kit was around Rs. 2,000.
However, as learnt by The Sunday Morning, even though the tenders worth over Rs. 10 million are yet to receive approval from Cabinet, investigations have uncovered that the group of officials had obtained the money by misleading the audit officer.
Investigations are being carried out by the CID as per information received by the State Intelligence Service (SIS). Accordingly, statements from over 67 officials, including officials from the MSD and the Medical Research Institute (MRI), have been recorded so far by the CID.
Furthermore, a statement from current DGHS Dr. Asela Gunawardena has also been recorded. However, attempts made by The Sunday Morning to contact Dr. Gunawardena and other Health Ministry officials to get their response over the alleged irregularities that had occurred during the procurement process were futile.
When contacted by The Sunday Morning, MSD Director Dr. H.M.K Wickramanayake denied any involvement of the division in the said PCR test kit issue.
He said an investigation is being conducted by the CID but no final decision has been made.
“Depending on the epidemiological estimates, we place the orders with the SPC or World Bank since we have allocated funds for Covid-19. They are doing the purchasing, tendering, technical evaluations, and all other things. Therefore, there is no involvement of the MSD,” he added.
When contacted, State Ministry of Primary Health Care, Epidemics, and Covid Disease Control Secretary Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva said that the State Ministry has no involvement with the said issue as well.
Meanwhile, allegations have been levelled against the health authorities responsible for maintaining the proper quality of PCR test machines, as the medical laboratory technologists (MLTs) claimed that there is a PCR reagent monopoly being implemented in the country that causes huge delays in issuing test results.
They also alleged that the number of tests currently being conducted at the Colombo East Base Hospital (CEBH) in Mulleriyawa has now been reduced to around 200 per day due to the lack of the exact reagent that matches with the PCR machine in the hospital.
It is learnt that following the breakdown of the CEBH PCR machine last month, another machine similar to the existing machine was received by the hospital as a donation but the issue, as told by the MLTs, was not with the machine but rather with the reagents used to extract the samples.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Sri Lanka Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists (SLAGMLT) President Ravi Kumudesh said the reagent monopoly has created a PCR dilemma, as a group of virology specialists were convincing the health authorities to use the kind of reagents that they recommended, which are not up to date.
“The PCR tests have evolved during the year and at present, there are technologies available to provide the test results within an hour. But local authorities are not taking steps to expand the technologies and shift to the newest technologies to expedite the testing process and increase test capacities,” he explained, adding that the speed of the test depends on the quality of the extraction done by using reagents and therefore, it is important to use the newest technological approaches always to speed up the process.
Furthermore, the SLAGMLT President stressed that there were three PCR machines available at MRI but the authorities are not taking steps to replace the existing machine at the CEBH with one of the machines at MRI.
He also urged the Government to conduct an impartial investigation into the PCR machine at the CEBH which was obtained from Asian Development Bank (ADB) funds, as though the machine was said to be worth around Rs. 200 million, the equipment isn’t worth even Rs. 70 million.
However, Kumudesh blamed the officials at the Ministry of Health for turning a blind eye to the corruption that is taking place at key government institutions under the Ministry of Health.
According to international studies, a PCR test is a very common scientific technique that has been widely used in research and medicine for around 20-30 years to detect genetic information. RT-PCR is a special version used when RNA is being detected and it is now being used as a test to detect SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19. This type of test has frequently been used as a frontline test for Covid-19, as it directly tests for the presence of the virus RNA.
RT-PCR tests are fairly quick, sensitive, reliable, and capable of producing results in three to four hours, although this usually takes longer if samples must first be sent to specialised external laboratories (six to eight hours on average).
Many diagnostic and research companies produce RT-PCR products, tests, and machines so the technology is widely available. Some RT-PCR tests are developed as an “all-in-one” kit, reducing laboratory handling and the potential of contamination.
PCR test kit PHOTO ©️AP[/caption]
By Maheesha Mudugamuwa
Along with the allegations levelled against the Health Ministry over the mismanagement during the purchasing of PCR test kits during the past few months, concerns have been raised over the entire procurement process applied when purchasing drugs and medical equipment.
As learnt by The Sunday Morning, there is no blanket approach applied for the purchase of medical drugs and equipment, especially with regard to the state sector, as in some instances, the hospitals directly purchase, while the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) and the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) are involved in the process as per requests made by the Health Ministry.
Health experts urged the Government to conduct a technical investigation into the entire procurement process followed by the Health Ministry.
In the meantime, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is conducting an investigation into an alleged PCR test kits racket which has been conducted by a group of officials attached to the Ministry of Health.
As of last week, the investigators have uncovered that payments had been made to purchase PCR test kits worth Rs. 38 million without following the proper tender process and without the approval of the Director General of Health Services (DGHS).
Further, it has been revealed that the PCR test kits procurement process has been granted to a friendly company under emergency purchasing on the assumption that the signature/approval from the DGHS could be obtained later.
A senior official attached to the Police Department, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Sunday Morning that the investigations were currently going on and several statements have been recorded by the CID as of now.
However, former DGHS Dr. Anil Jasinghe has refused to sign two such tender documents, the CID has uncovered.
According to the investigations, payments have been made to a German company for two tenders worth Rs. 16 million and Rs. 22 million, respectively. As per the tenders, the price of a PCR test kit is valued at around Rs. 4,000, while the actual price of the test kit was around Rs. 2,000.
However, as learnt by The Sunday Morning, even though the tenders worth over Rs. 10 million are yet to receive approval from Cabinet, investigations have uncovered that the group of officials had obtained the money by misleading the audit officer.
Investigations are being carried out by the CID as per information received by the State Intelligence Service (SIS). Accordingly, statements from over 67 officials, including officials from the MSD and the Medical Research Institute (MRI), have been recorded so far by the CID.
Furthermore, a statement from current DGHS Dr. Asela Gunawardena has also been recorded. However, attempts made by The Sunday Morning to contact Dr. Gunawardena and other Health Ministry officials to get their response over the alleged irregularities that had occurred during the procurement process were futile.
When contacted by The Sunday Morning, MSD Director Dr. H.M.K Wickramanayake denied any involvement of the division in the said PCR test kit issue.
He said an investigation is being conducted by the CID but no final decision has been made.
“Depending on the epidemiological estimates, we place the orders with the SPC or World Bank since we have allocated funds for Covid-19. They are doing the purchasing, tendering, technical evaluations, and all other things. Therefore, there is no involvement of the MSD,” he added.
When contacted, State Ministry of Primary Health Care, Epidemics, and Covid Disease Control Secretary Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva said that the State Ministry has no involvement with the said issue as well.
Meanwhile, allegations have been levelled against the health authorities responsible for maintaining the proper quality of PCR test machines, as the medical laboratory technologists (MLTs) claimed that there is a PCR reagent monopoly being implemented in the country that causes huge delays in issuing test results.
They also alleged that the number of tests currently being conducted at the Colombo East Base Hospital (CEBH) in Mulleriyawa has now been reduced to around 200 per day due to the lack of the exact reagent that matches with the PCR machine in the hospital.
It is learnt that following the breakdown of the CEBH PCR machine last month, another machine similar to the existing machine was received by the hospital as a donation but the issue, as told by the MLTs, was not with the machine but rather with the reagents used to extract the samples.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Sri Lanka Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists (SLAGMLT) President Ravi Kumudesh said the reagent monopoly has created a PCR dilemma, as a group of virology specialists were convincing the health authorities to use the kind of reagents that they recommended, which are not up to date.
“The PCR tests have evolved during the year and at present, there are technologies available to provide the test results within an hour. But local authorities are not taking steps to expand the technologies and shift to the newest technologies to expedite the testing process and increase test capacities,” he explained, adding that the speed of the test depends on the quality of the extraction done by using reagents and therefore, it is important to use the newest technological approaches always to speed up the process.
Furthermore, the SLAGMLT President stressed that there were three PCR machines available at MRI but the authorities are not taking steps to replace the existing machine at the CEBH with one of the machines at MRI.
He also urged the Government to conduct an impartial investigation into the PCR machine at the CEBH which was obtained from Asian Development Bank (ADB) funds, as though the machine was said to be worth around Rs. 200 million, the equipment isn’t worth even Rs. 70 million.
However, Kumudesh blamed the officials at the Ministry of Health for turning a blind eye to the corruption that is taking place at key government institutions under the Ministry of Health.
According to international studies, a PCR test is a very common scientific technique that has been widely used in research and medicine for around 20-30 years to detect genetic information. RT-PCR is a special version used when RNA is being detected and it is now being used as a test to detect SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19. This type of test has frequently been used as a frontline test for Covid-19, as it directly tests for the presence of the virus RNA.
RT-PCR tests are fairly quick, sensitive, reliable, and capable of producing results in three to four hours, although this usually takes longer if samples must first be sent to specialised external laboratories (six to eight hours on average).
Many diagnostic and research companies produce RT-PCR products, tests, and machines so the technology is widely available. Some RT-PCR tests are developed as an “all-in-one” kit, reducing laboratory handling and the potential of contamination.