Skočibušić: Publication of data has damaged the credibility of the Institute and the Federation of BiH before the Sinopharm company

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Director of the FBiH Institute of Public Health, dr. Siniša Skočibušić, is disappointed with the conditional assessment by the Office for Audit of Institutions in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Contract for the procurement of vaccines against Covid-19 disease, which was previously concluded with the Chinese supplier Sinopharm.

- The fact that the Audit Office objected to this contract has, in a way, saddened us for the simple reason that by publishing the data from the Contract, contractual provisions with the manufacturer Sinopharm were violated. This has damaged the credibility of the FBiH Institute of Public Health and the Federation of BiH, especially for future business we may have with them as one of the world's vaccine manufacturers - he emphasized in a statement to Fena.

As dr. Skočibušić adds, "ultimately, our contracts probably do not differ from contracts in other organizational units - the BiH entity Republika Srpska and Brčko District or in the Republic of Serbia".

- Therefore, it would be good to try to publish those contracts as well, so that the prices themselves can be compared, because the contract concluded with us is the most favorable for us and the only possible one at that moment - he emphasized.

As dr. Skočibušić emphasizes, on November 26, 2021, the manufacturer Sinopharm was asked to withdraw from the contractual obligation, and they "clearly said that they do not want to withdraw and that they demand ten years of contract secrecy".

- If we need to talk to the same manufacturer, possibly for a vaccine that will be bivalent for newer types of viruses, which Sinopharm will certainly sell, our credibility with that company will certainly be diminished due to the disclosure of contractual provisions - he emphasized.

Director Skočibušić recalled the situation from 2020 and the beginning of the pandemic when humanity faced a challenge that no one had faced before.

- It was a time when we were in lockdown, when one respirator mask cost one KM and when everything was lacking. After that, the population eagerly awaited, there was great pressure, for vaccines to be made to prevent the pandemic, or to stop this scourge that we are still witnessing today - he said.

As dr. Skočibušić emphasized, the FBiH Government, together with the FBiH Institute of Public Health, launched a series of activities at that time to secure vaccines for the population of the Federation of BiH.

- It was a complex and lengthy process. In the end, we concluded a contract with the Chinese supplier Sinopharm, where we clearly put the mark "confidential" in the Contract, at the request of the manufacturer, which was a contractual obligation. Ultimately, we received half a million doses of vaccine, at a time when seven percent of the population in FBiH had been vaccinated with the first dose, when we had about 270,000 doses of vaccines in total by then. It was at a time when COVAX was not delivering or was delivering minimally and when there was a shortage of vaccines against COVID-19 disease - specified dr. Skočibušić.