06 Aug 2023

Procurement  of the DNA sequencer which was bought for about P5.6 million by the Ministry of Health was through direct appointment, which is one of the types of government tendering methods, health minister, Dr Edwin Dikoloti has said.

Responding to a question in Parliament recently, Dr Dikoloti said the purchase was necessitated by an urgent need to analyse impending specimens for Botswana AIDS Impact Survey (BAIS V) for HIV drug resistance as well as the necessity to maintain WHO accreditation as an HIV regional surveillance laboratory network.

Dr Dikoloti said the procurement of the sequencer started in 2020, but could not happen due to the re-direction of funds to address the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It must be noted that the discovery of the SARS COV-2 Omicron variant was done with the same technology,” he said. 

He said the total cost of ownership in terms of reagents and maintenance was determined by the prevalence of HIV which made it inaccurate to provide such costs. He explained that the sequencer was manufactured by Thermo Fisher Scientific under its brand name, Applied Biosystems and supplied by Mediland Healthcare Distributors.

“When considering the equipment, guidance was based in what could allow for continuity of service without moving away from the accreditation resources that contributed to such,” he said.

He said although accreditation was a priority, it was discovered that the purchasing price was within the market range.

Mahalapye West MP, Mr David Tshere had asked for an appraisal on the DNA sequencer and how it was acquired as well as reasons that compelled it's acquisition considering that DNA sequencing had been done for some time and during COVID-19. He also wanted to know the total cost of ownership in terms of reagents and maintenance, and whether there was any manufacturer or supplier who could supply it cheaper. ends