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 Supplies and equipment (S&E)
WHO has a limited role in the procurement of
supplies and equipment as it:
 primarily
plays a technical advisory role on public health issues;
has
a very limited procurement infrastructure and set-up;
has
a very limited regular budget for supplies and equipment.
However, WHO does provide
support to its Member Countries for:
Procurement
of essential items which catalyse pilot health activities, especially items
not easily available in the country, and specialized medical equipment and
supplies;
Medical
items to assist in medical emergency situations;
Reimbursable
procurement of items which are not available in the country, at a 3% service
charge;
Items
to be procured under sources other than the Regular budget, if provided for
in the project document;
Design
and printing of publication materials, which a Member State
is unable to manage on its own. Requests for supplies and equipment as per
the approved work plan should be submitted to WHO on the prescribed format
(Annexure 8) clearly indicating:
Project
identity (SO, OWER, RER, OSER, Product, Activity);
Details
of items requested and justification for them;
Estimated
cost;
Supplier's
name and equipment's specifications and brochure/catalogue;
Complete
address(es) of consignee(s) and their contacts.
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WHO is not fully conversant with local rules concerning
in-country distribution, such as requirements for inter-state goods
movement, octroi and road permits. In case of multiple destinations, it is
advisable for NPMs and requisitioners to identify not more than one focal
consignee, who can handle in-country distribution to several consignees.
WHO has good arrangements with the Government Medical Supply Depots GMSD),
and the requisitioner can nominate one or more GMSDs) to be the focal
consignees).
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For imported items, the lead
time for procurement is normally 4 to 6 months. It is shorter in case of
items available locally.
It is important to note that WHO
is exempted from paying customs duties. Therefore, WHO normally does not
purchase locally those imported items for which customs duty has been paid by
the supplier, unless these items are meant for use in medical emergencies and
are available ex-stock.
Government departments/institutes
are responsible for supporting/ meeting all costs related to associated
consumables and subsequent maintenance contracts, etc.
3.4.1 Capital
equipment - Prerequisites for purchase proposal
For capital equipment such as
medical and laboratory equipment, computers and office equipment, NPMs should
ensure that their institution has:
a) the budget to support associated consumables,
spares and subsequent maintenance contracts on a sustainable basis;
b) the capacity to arrange "warranty" of
equipment with suppliers;
c) the personnel trained/to be trained to operate
and supervise the equipment;
d) the space and infrastructure required to house
and operate the equipment.
Full details of the capital equipment to be procured
should be given in the proposal. It should also include:
a) Related essential accessories and consumables;
b) Address of supplier (and local agent, if
available);
c) Especially for those items which need to be
imported, the requisitioner can attach a proforma invoice from a local sales
agent;
d) If a particular make/model is specially
requested, a justification is required which should explain why only that
brand and not others should be considered. If this is not categorically
explained in the request, the procurement unit of WHO would consider
alternative brands.
3.4.2 Requirement for obtaining inventory control of S&E
a) Upon receipt of items by the Government
institution/ end-user, these should be considered as "handed over"
from WHO to them.
b) Received items should be clubbed with the
inventory system of the institution concerned.
c) Subsequent disposal of these items procured
through WHO is governed by the rules and regulations of the Government.
3.4.3 Printing of
materials
Proposals for printing of
books/documents and other materials to be undertaken through the S&E
component are exceptionally handled by WHO (see Annexure 11). Ideally, the
institution/end-user should manage the printing jobs themselves under an APW.
In such cases, the proposals should be based on:
a) Realistic estimates from printers
approved by the government, confirming that the materials will be ready at
the earliest, and latest by the next calendar year;
b) Upon receipt of funds from WHO,
the institution/ end-user awards the contract to the printer based on the
Government's printing rules and procedures;
c) The request for release of final
instalment from WHO should be accompanied by a copy of the printed document;
d) In case the institution/end-user
wishes WHO to arrange the printing using its own printers, the proposal
should include:
- A camera-ready hard copy of the text and
illustrations, and an electronic version of the final document;
- Information on the
number of copies to be printed, size of publication, quality of cover and
inside pages, and, if possible, a sample of a similar publication;
- Consignee address(s) where copies have to be
delivered.
All supplies and equipment
provided by WHO to aided projects remains the property of the Organization
until these are disposed of on or before the termination of the project. A
brief report on the state of the equipment (with any discrepancies) should be
submitted to WHO once a year, along with the Master Inventory Card.
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