Procurement of drugs clarified

By MAZIE SELMBIA
CHEMOTHERAPY drugs are not procured through the normal procurement system like any other drug, an official says.
Morobe Health Authority chief executive officer Dr Kipas Binga said this after he thanked Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL) for helping to procure drugs for the National Cancer Centre at Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae.
Binga said cancer drugs were expensive.
“Chemotherapy drugs are very expensive drugs and they are not part of the normal catalogue under the Department of Health,” Binga said. Proceeds from last year’s Kumul Petroleum Charity Golf Challenge were used to procure chemotherapy drugs being supplied at the cancer centre currently.
“For KPHL to come in and subsidise it, is very timely and we really appreciate it.
“We spent more than K500,000 of Kumul Petroleum’s money that was coming in to purchase cancer drugs from last year’s event,” Binga said.
He said they had enough drug supplies until June and hoped that the money raised this year, will go towards buying more drugs for the next 12 months in order to keep the services going for chemotherapy cases. Binga also thanked KPHL on behalf of the patients receiving chemotherapy.
All proceeds from the charity golf challenge will go towards the cancer centre.
KPHL has continued to support the centre since a memorandum of understanding was signed in 2020.