Doctors group to inspect quality of ATKs in ‘suspicious’ procurement deal
The Rural Doctors Society has declared that it will thoroughly inspect the quality of Chinese rapid antigen test kits (ATKs) controversially purchased by the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO).
If the Covid-19 test kits were found to be substandard, someone must be held responsible, it said.
The GPO announced recently it was going ahead with its plan to purchase 8.5 million ATK sets made by Beijing Lepu Medical Technology and imported by Ostland Capital. The importer won the bidding at 70 baht per kit despite news that the Lepu ATKs were banned in the United States for producing a high rate of false-positive results.
Rural Doctors Society president Dr Suphat Hasuwannakit said on Tuesday that the procurement deal for the ATKs was highly suspicious, despite an assurance from the Public Health Ministry that the Lepu kits meet sensitivity and specificity standards.
“The Society wants to make sure that taxpayer’s money was spent wisely and that Thai people and front-line medics will not have to rely on low-quality kits in time of crisis,” he commented on Facebook on Tuesday.
“We will perform thorough quality tests on these kits as soon as they are distributed to medical units. The 60 teams of medical experts under the Society and its partners are standing ready to put these kits to the test. If they turn out to be of low quality, someone must be held responsible.”