E-tendering as a pandemic mitigation tool: Lessons from Tanzania’s healthcare procurement during COVID-19

This study analyzed e-tendering practices for mitigating pandemic spread using a lesson from the COVID-19 spread in Tanzania as per Sustainable Development Goal 3, which focuses on healthier lives and well-being. This study was guided by Diffusion of Innovation Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model using a quantitative approach by means of a census aided by a structured questionnaire from 150 staff of the Medical Stores Department using a cross-sectional explanatory survey design. Binary logistic regression revealed that receipt of requirements (Exp(B)=5.691, p=0.001), tender preparation (Exp(B)=1.603, p=0.030), submission (Exp(B)=12.655, p=0.041), and opening (Exp(B)=14.744, p=0.001) significantly reduced pandemic spread. However, evaluation (Exp(B)=1.632, p=0.123) showed no significant effect, highlighting the need for improved system integration. Interestingly, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing useful insights for the future by using e-tendering to countermeasure the pandemic spread whilst continuing to procure health-related supplies to save lives. The use of e-tendering helps to counteract the spread of pandemics due to reduced physical contact. Furthermore, this study involves multidisciplinary mingling of procurement, information systems, and healthcare. Practically, since the current NEST is incapable of automatically evaluating the tenders online, then a relevant module should be integrated to suffice the gap. However, this study revealed the relationship between e-tendering practices and the spread of the pandemics but did not consider the use of artificial intelligence in tendering to mitigate the spread of the pandemic. Therefore, further studies are required to address this issue. Also, since it has been five years since the outbreak of COVID-19, longitudinally, it is imperative to track how e-tendering has been embraced in reducing pandemic spread.