New UN-developed web technology cuts cost of aid business

As a result of its highly efficient Internet-based system for materials management, the procurement office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been selected to help distribute $50 million worth of tuberculosis drugs, the agency announced today.

The purchasing contract for the Global TB Drug Facility was awarded to UNDP's Inter-Agency Procurement Services Office (IAPSO) following a competitive bidding process with the private sector, IAPSO said in a statement issued at its Copenhagen headquarters.

A major factor in the Office's efficiency is its Internet web site -- UN Web Buy - that drastically reduces costs. The web-based system will allow IAPSO to provide the "Stop TB" partnerships with status information on the supply of TB drugs globally.

"When six months' supply of drugs costs just as little as $11 per patient, using every dollar of donor funding efficiently can have a dramatic effect on the number of patients the Stop TB Partnership can help," said Jack Gottling, Manager of IAPSO's Procurement Services Section. "We are pleased that the Global TB Drug Facility recognizes the efficient and cost-effective services that IAPSO can offer and we are proud to be supporting this important global initiative."

IAPSO has been providing procurement services and expertise to the UN and its partners in development for almost 20 years.

The Global Partnership to Stop TB involves all those organizations and individuals committed to short- and long-term measures required to control and eventually eliminate TB as a public health problem in the world.