Sirinut Cheewanphisannukul, GPO deputy director, said the agency was assigned by Rajavithi Hospital to procure 8.5 million antigen test kits (ATK) for the National Health Security Office (NHSO).

The GPO asked 19 of the 24 ATK vendors to participate in bidding for the contract. Sirinut said one company offered a price lower than the budget set by the NHSO, saving more than 400 million baht. The price of each test kit under the purchase contract is about 70 baht. This would also help reduce the market price of rapid test kits, she said.

The purchase contract will now be examined by Rajavithi Hospital, the NHSO working group and the GPO, while the kits should be distributed to various agencies before the end of August.

Thailand procures 8.5 million rapid antigen kits for mass testing

The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) says it will purchase 8.5 million Covid-19 rapid test kits from the lowest bidder, saving 400 million baht in budget.