In Zambia, CBM has been supporting eye health services through its partners including the Ministry of Health since the 1970s. CBM’s work in Inclusive Eye Health includes the procurement of Medical consumables, diagnostic equipment and other eye health products. This has often come with its challenges. Recently, as we, the CBM country office in Zambia, were procuring for a USAID and CBM supported project, we were faced with exorbitant local prices and unavailability of a number of diagnostic materials and low vision devices. It is then that we were introduced by our Inclusive Eye Health advisor to the IAPB Valued Supplier Scheme Manager. Through the Scheme we were linked to reputable and reliable suppliers who provided competitive but cheaper eye health products. Aside that, the suppliers were technically knowledgeable on the products we were asking about. After evaluating the first set of quotations from the suppliers against our budget and procurement guidelines, we were still able, through the IAPB Valued Supplier Scheme (VSS), to collect more quotations for further comparison. The suppliers we selected communicated regularly on the status of our orders which gave us confidence. The IAPB VSS saw us through our procurement process, and we recommend the scheme to other Eye Health partners looking to procure eye health products.
Dr. Linda Kasonka,
Country Director-CBM Zambia Country Office