Controlling drug quality and prices, improving the pharmaceutical delivery system, and domestic drug production were on the agenda at an online conference the Ministry of Health held on June 23.
Minister of Health Nguyen Quoc Trieu said the health sector, despite facing many difficulties, manages to procure enough quality drugs for treatment and several manufacturers have invested in assembly lines that conform to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).
According to statistics of the ministry, Vietnam had 89 drug manufacturers meeting GMP standards in 2008 and Vietnamese spent over US$1.4 billion on medicines, or an average per capita spending of $16.45.
The domestic pharmaceutical industry’s turnover was $715 million in 2008, 19 per cent higher than the previous year.
Truong Quoc Cuong, head of the Drugs Control Department, told the conference that substandard drugs, those without clear origins, and contraband are the main challenges faced by regulators but said measures have been taken to check all this.
The Ministry would set up a pharmaceutical distribution center each in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to stabilize the markets and ensure drug quality, Deputy Minister of Health Cao Minh Quang said.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan ordered the Ministry to tighten regulations and crack down on misleading drug advertising by mandating penalties, including publicly naming producers found indulging in such activity.
The drug distribution system should be revamped, with priority given to adoption of Good Pharmacy Practices (GPP) by drugstores, he said, adding financial support and training should be provided to ensure all drugstores in the country meet GPP standards.
Deputy director of the HCM City Department of Health, Pham Khanh Phong Lan, said 80 out of 83 hospital pharmacies meet GPP standards and the other three have completed the paperwork and are awaiting approval.
