MEDICAL SUPPLIES

The medical supplies can be eligible for ECHO if the conditions specified under 4.1.a.iii of Annex III to the FPA are met.

There are various ways of showing that the conditions are met and the partner may also refer to the findings of other donors that a particular supplier's ‘premises and facilities meet internationally recognised standards, that they are technically capable of ensuring the quality of the active ingredients and that their products come from an approved supplier’.

A useful reference, as indicated by Annex III, is Article 5(2) of the Guidelines on Good Distribution Practice of Medical Products for Human Use (available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2013:343:0001:0014:EN:PDF). This is a useful tool in ascertaining pre-certification to WHO standards for quality assurance purposes – however the procurement obligations on the partner does not stop there and the partner cannot simply rely blindly on the certification given by the other donor since the certification process could not be prepared with compliance of Annex III in mind.

ECHO does not provide detailed information or specific lists regarding medical devices as it considers it the responsibility of the partner implementing the action. ECHO considers best practice that any partner that conducts procurement of medical supplies does so with the support of a person qualified in health care (e.g. a pharmacists etc.).