The cabinet motion yesterday on the problematic procurement of home-use rapid antigen test kits (ATKs) proves one thing. The prime minister -- who has crafted thirty articles of legislation relating to Covid with his own hands since March -- cannot use his power and leadership to defuse the conflict that has erupted at a time when society needs his guidance the most.
The cabinet yesterday announced that the Ministry of Public Health must resolve the conflict surrounding the procurement and speed up the purchase of home-use ATKs as quickly as possible.
This much-awaited announcement was a departure from last week when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that the quality of ATKs must be approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The latest controversy concerns the procurement of 8.5 million home-use Lepu ATKs by the National Health Security Office (NHSO) via the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) for distribution by hospitals to people.
The one-billion-baht procurement became a contentious issue after the RDS last week sent an open letter to Gen Prayut, asking him to ensure that ATKs procured by Thailand are endorsed by the WHO.
The RDS stated that the ATKs from the company that won the bidding, Lepu, had been rejected by the United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The GPO was accused of not following the NHSO's strict conditions to select only ATKs that were WHO-endorsed.
Meanwhile, the GPO reasoned that the NHSO's precondition would favour only a few companies, while insisting the ATK firms that won the bidding followed all bidding and procurement rules.
The GPO argued that the ATKs chosen and approved by the Thai FDA, were the cheapest and had been used in European countries.
The cabinet decision yesterday means the ball is back in the GPO's court.
The GPO must make a decision to handle the procurement carefully and in a timely manner. Home-use ATKs are and will become strategic medical kits to help contain Covid-19 and are equally as important as vaccines.
ATKs need to be reliable and trusted by the public. Otherwise, people will be reluctant to use them. Inferior quality ATKs will affect Covid containment and derail a Covid strategy that encourages the public to conduct self-testing and embrace home isolation.
The GPO needs to prioritise what matters to it most -- how cheap the ATKs are, or how trustworthy and reliable they are.
The agency has two options, to either go on with the existing bidding in which the questioned Lepu ATKs will be used, or to come up with other options such as a new procurement plan to ensure the public has access to reliable ATKs.
Either option comes with problems. Holding new bidding means slow Covid testing, which will lead to more transmissions.
If the GPO decides to stick with the problematic bidding, the agency will face a huge burden of monitoring the quality of the ATKs. If the Lepu ATKs prove to be substandard, the GPO's credibility will be tarnished completely.
But the most affected group will be those who should have been given ATKs as soon as possible.
After already being let down by a botched vaccine rollout, does the public really need to witness any more blunders relating to Covid containment?
