The Ministry of Health recommends that people avoid buying medicine based on incorrect information online.

On April 21, the Department of Drug Administration (Ministry of Health) issued Official Dispatch No. 1136/QLD-KD on strengthening inspection, examination and handling of violations in pharmaceutical business activities to the Department of Health of provinces and centrally run cities.

Counterfeit drug producers and seized exhibits.

Accordingly, in recent times, the media has reported on the phenomenon of buying and selling drugs, including prescription drugs and drugs subject to special control, on social networking sites. The Drug Administration has sent a document to units and organizations selling products via e-commerce such as Meta Platforms Inc, Shopee Company Limited... requesting measures to control and prevent these behaviors.

To strengthen the management of pharmaceutical business activities by e-commerce, the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Pharmacy, effective from July 1, 2025, stipulates prohibited acts, which are retailing by e-commerce of prescription drugs (except for cases of medical isolation when there is an infectious disease of group A that has been declared an epidemic according to regulations); drugs subject to special control; drugs on the list of drugs with restricted retail sale.

In addition, the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Pharmacy also stipulates that wholesale by e-commerce of drugs subject to special control is strictly prohibited; trading in drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients by e-commerce through means other than e-commerce trading floors, e-commerce sales applications, and electronic information pages (also known as e-commerce websites) that sell products with online ordering functions.

The Law also strictly prohibits pharmaceutical business at a place other than the business location stated on the Certificate of Eligibility for Pharmaceutical Business or permitted by a competent state agency, except for buying and selling activities by e-commerce.

To ensure safety for users and ensure adequate supply of quality drugs for people, the Drug Administration of Vietnam requests the Departments of Health of provinces and centrally run cities to coordinate with relevant units to strengthen inspection, supervision and monitoring of pharmaceutical business establishments in the area to maintain proper implementation of professional regulations; ensure strict compliance with legal regulations in pharmaceutical business activities.

In particular, strengthen the inspection and supervision of drug retail establishments in the area to detect and prevent drug trading at places other than the business locations stated on the Certificate of Eligibility for Drug Trading or permitted by competent state agencies (currently online trading); purchase and sale of prescription drugs and drugs subject to special control not in accordance with regulations and strictly handle violations (if any).

In addition, increase information and dissemination to pharmaceutical businesses in the area about legal regulations on the pharmaceutical field, the principles and standards of "Good Practice". In particular, pharmaceutical businesses are required to focus on checking and controlling the origin of drugs, drug quality, and expiry date of drugs before circulating them on the market; at the same time, strengthen the work of checking the legal documents of suppliers...

“People should only buy drugs from legal pharmaceutical businesses, drugs with full information, clear origin, avoid buying drugs based on inaccurate information on social networking sites. In addition, people need to be more vigilant to join hands with state management agencies in the fight against counterfeit goods, poor quality goods, and commercial fraud,” the Drug Administration of Vietnam noted.

According to hanoimoi.vn

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/bo-y-te-khuyen-cao-nguoi-dan-tranh-mua-thuoc-theo-thong-tin-khong-chinh-xac-tren-mang-post400602.html