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For stakeholders across the world in the sector of health, end-November 2013 proved to be a grand get-together, as a five-day conference aimed at sharing the best global and local practices delved deep into pathways on health procurement as a vital and sensitive area of the healthcare delivery chain.
 
The November 27-December 1 meet, which was a platform for this knowledge symbiosis, featured successful case studies, panel discussions and critical examination of practical ideas, thus enabling the participants to identify strength and weakness of different systems besides foreseeing emerging trends.
Organised by HLL Academy, our educational initiative, in association with the Union Ministry of Health and the World Bank, the international training programme held in Thiruvananthapuram district helped the participants get insight by benchmarking their own procurement pathways and refine the skills in innovation processes besides redefining quality standards that are in tune with the times.
The meet was jointly inaugurated by Dr M.Ayyappan, Chairman & Managing Director, HLL Lifecare Ltd and Mr Poornalingam, Former Secretary, Govt of India.
 
HLL Chairman and the Managing Director, Dr M Ayyappan, later noted that the conference succeeded in providing deeper vision into internationally acclaimed range of health procurement practices, and equip the participants to deal with the intricacies of demand forecasting and tendering procedures. Contract management practices and comprehensive knowledge on innovative tools including procurement automation will be among the key contents of the event, added the top boss who had presided over the inaugural session to be held at Estuary Island Resort at Poovar.
 
 
Healthcare professionals in the area of public health programmes, functionaries of World Bank projects, senior officers from the Health Ministry and those associated with procurement practices, drugs and pharmaceuticals, vaccines, hospital equipment, bio-medical instruments, medical devices and general hospital supplies attend the programme.
 
HLL Academy, set up as an independent training, research and consulting division of HLL Lifecare Limited, is all set to offer courses in niche areas in procurement management, clinical engineering and management, sales management and social marketing, riding on the two-decade long experience of HLL in the field of procurement.
UNDP also supported the programme by nominating personnel from their projects. WHO too offered help by way of suggestions and technical inputs.
There were 56 participants which included middle level and senior level people working in health departments, NRHM projects, Medical Services corporations and the like in addition, there were two people from Afganistan, eight from Nepal and one from Nigeria.
A good team of resource persons was constituted to handle the sessions which were designed after much consultation and discussions. Special emphasis was given to persons who have hands-on experience in the hands of procurement.
The programme focused on its objectives such as providing insights into internationally acclaimed range of health procurement practices, learning the intricacies of demand forecasting and tendering procedures, providing updates on extant contract management practice, appraising participants of benchmarks in quality assurance and imparting comprehensive knowledge on innovative tools including procurement automation.
Having identified ten major areas, it held training sessions on procurement principles and policies in the health sector — current issues, regulatory aspects of Health Sector Procurement, demand forecasting, quality assurance and quality improvement, contract management, procurement cycle management, procurement of hi-tech & bio-medical equipment, logistics and supply chain management in healthcare sector.