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Published on November 6, 2007

GPO director Witit Artavatkun said the Cabinet never asked for expert opinions before issuing the draft decree or considered how it would affect the GPO's ability to supply drugs.

The Cabinet resolution calls for the scrapping of the special purchase procedure for GPO medical products, which allows the agency to provide medical products for hospitals.

The Cabinet last week approved the draft of the government's special purchase procedure and parcel decree. The cancellation of the procedure would allow all companies to sell drugs to hospitals in direct competition to the GPO.

"GPO should have special privileges to sell drugs to hospitals because the drug business is not the same as the commodity business. If we do not control sales and are forced to enter the free-trade market, this will affect the quality of drugs," he said.

But Dr Mongkol na Songkhla, the public health minister, said the government must create regulations to allow the GPO to operate in a free market on an equal footing with the private sector.

"The GPO must develop its capacity to compete with the private sector in the free-trade market and I expect the price of drugs to decrease," he said.

Pongphon Sarnsamak

 The Nation