The Social Security Institute (IPS) announced a contingency plan in response to the persistent shortage of medical supplies, which includes a restructuring of the purchasing system and a rigorous review of the institutional vademecum. IPS president Isaías Fretes stated that a group of doctors is reviewing the catalog of products and medicines used by the institution.
As a preliminary result, 988 items registered for purchase were eliminated, many of them considered unnecessary. Fretes explained that until then, bidding processes and the composition of the vademecum were defined by the administrative sector, which, according to him, did not consider the real medical needs.
"As a doctor, it was necessary to change this situation because I questioned why certain products remained on the medication list. I decided to give prominence to the health professionals who manage the institution. After the meticulous work of the medical team, 988 items were removed from the vademecum. We were buying millions worth of products that had no justification," Fretes declared.
The IPS president held the administrative sector responsible for the excessive inclusion of products in the vademecum, a situation that, according to him, has been ongoing for years. He cited an example of a bidding process worth 76 billion guaranis that had to be deactivated for lack of justification, while 164 insured individuals risk losing their sight due to the lack of ophthalmological surgical kits.
Fretes emphasized that the impact of the vademecum review will be very significant for the institution and that the medical group requested until next Wednesday to finalize the technical analysis. After this stage, IPS intends to initiate legal procedures with the Board of Directors to officially implement the changes in the purchasing system and the vademecum structure.