The Council of Consumer Organizations hijacked. Minister of Public Health and Provincial Police seize orders from the Prime Minister Accelerate the purchase of 8.5 million ATKs
On August 23, the Consumer Organization Council Has issued an open letter requesting the Minister of Public Health (MoPH) and the Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) to comply with the Prime Minister’s orders. and expedite the procurement of ATKs that meet WHO quality standards as soon as possible.
From the Cabinet resolution on August 17, 2021, the Prime Minister has ordered the Emergency Medical and Public Health Operation Center. In the case of COVID-19 infectious disease (SMO) and related agencies urgently solve problems In particular, the important point number 6 clearly states that “Accelerate the procurement of antigen test kits (Antigen Test Kits: ATK) certified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), available in Thailand. quality according to international standards It has been certified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and must be accurate in testing. to lead to timely treatment and ready to deliver within the specified time.”
The Council of Organizations asked the Minister of Public Health to comply with the Prime Minister’s orders. and call for The Provincial Administration Organization has terminated the requirement to purchase Antigen Test Kits (ATK) that do not meet the certification standards required by the World Health Organization. According to the framework in the submission of bid envelopes according to the rights of the Provincial Administration Organization in Article 4.1, the bidder fails to comply with any one of the conditions. PAO will not consider buying or considering the next purchase as it deems appropriate and 4.2 AOT has the right to reduce or increase the number will refrain from buying or buying without the need to always buy from the lowest bidder as well as reserve the right to consider canceling the bid for the benefit of the district office mainly, which reflects that Municipality can cancel this auction.
“In the case of ATK test kit, Le Pu brand (LEPU), if considering the qualifications Le Bu does not meet the certification standards set by the WHO, which Le Bu has sensitivity. The sensitivity is 90%, the specificity is 98%, while the WHO standard defines the sensitivity at 95 % and the specificity at 99 %. If 8.5 million tests were used for COVID-19 under a prevalence of 10 percent, it would cause false negatives to as many as 40,000 people. proactive examination indicates that the patient is not infected both infected and vice versa indicates infection But in fact it’s not infected. And this will increase the total number of test errors by about 110,000 people, resulting in those who have test results indicating that they are infected. although not infected will be sent to care in a waiting center field hospital at risk of contracting COVID-19 very much.”
Consequently, the Council of Organizations views that the quality of ATK should be considered from the test kit that produces as few false negatives as possible. effective and the most accurate come first because of these false negatives This will result in the patient being deprived of the opportunity to receive medical care. especially receiving the necessary medicines in a timely manner and referral to a medical facility when the symptoms are severe It also results in the spread of germs to the community without the patient’s knowledge. making it difficult to control the disease This is contrary to the disease control guidelines that require the fastest and most effective control of the disease.
In this regard, for the benefit of the people as consumers, the Council of Organizations has asked all agencies to comply with the Prime Minister’s orders. and the Cabinet Resolutions (Cabinet) that require the procurement of ATK with quality according to international standards. Has been certified by the World Health Organization, so the organization council has the following proposals and actions The cabinet is clear on procurement of ATK test kits that are of the highest quality certified by the World Health Organization. To minimize proactive detection errors and expedite the procurement of quality examination kits for the National Health Security Office (NHSO) as soon as possible MCOT) confirmed the cabinet resolution and the Prime Minister’s order according to the cabinet resolution on August 17, 2021
