What is the Ministry of Health doing to solve the problem of drug shortages?

The problem of drug shortage is a major challenge for the health sector and to improve this situation, the Ministry of Health is making efforts to implement many synchronous measures with the expectation that this will soon end.

The problem of drug shortage is a major challenge for the health sector and to improve this situation, the Ministry of Health is making efforts to implement many synchronous measures with the expectation that this will soon end.

Regarding the solutions that the Ministry of Health has implemented over time to overcome the shortage of drugs and medical supplies, according to Mr. Hoang Cuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Finance, Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Health has continuously organized training conferences, disseminating new legal regulations on direct and online bidding to each medical facility. In addition, the Ministry has worked directly with a number of local medical facilities to provide direct guidance.

The Ministry of Health is making efforts to implement many synchronous and effective measures to overcome the drug shortage.

Through inspection and review, the Ministry of Health found that there was a shortage of drugs and medical supplies in some hospitals due to the delay in applying the new Bidding Law in early 2024. Some bidding packages had inappropriate regulations, leading to the failure to select contractors and the bidding had to be canceled and re-bid.

Basically, the main problems from the medical facilities in the implementation process are due to the lack of a unified understanding. Some localities have issued regulations on complete decentralization for medical facilities, hospitals decide on procurement, but some localities have decentralized at a moderate level.

This is one of the reasons that leads to prolonged shopping time because it has to go through intermediate approval and appraisal steps.

Mr. Hoang Cuong added that the problems arising since the legal document on bidding was issued are not the main cause.

The proof is that many localities and hospitals have bid and encountered no problems, however, some other hospitals have had difficulties.

According to Mr. Cuong, local barriers mainly revolve around issues such as complicated appraisal and approval procedures in some localities; some localities have not yet thoroughly decentralized the decision-making process to hospitals;

There are still inconsistent understandings in collecting quotations and information to determine the bid package price, such as determining the bid package price based on the highest, lowest or average quotation; difficulties in approving the budget estimate for procurement;

Not to mention, the assessment of the origin of the goods that the contractor stated in the bidding documents; some hospitals have not boldly decided to purchase for 2-3 years instead of just bidding annually as before.

Currently, the Government has assigned the Ministry of Health the task of continuing to review and propose amendments according to its authority to the content that is still stuck in the implementation process or is not suitable to reality.

In particular, the Prime Minister also assigned the Ministry of Health to take the lead in developing a handbook on the procedures for implementing bidding work for hospitals to refer to and apply.

“We are implementing this task. In the near future, based on research and synthesizing the difficulties of hospitals, we will issue a handbook, in the spirit of hand-holding. Hospitals can refer to it to carry out bidding and procurement. Avoid shirking responsibility, evading responsibility, and pushing one's tasks to superiors," said Mr. Cuong.

In addition to the solutions that the Ministry of Health is implementing, according to the Ministry of Health's leaders, to overcome the drug shortage and reduce dependence on imported drugs, the Ministry of Health has encouraged domestic enterprises to invest in drug production.

Support policies and tax incentives have also been introduced to encourage the development of the pharmaceutical industry. The Ministry of Health has also sought cooperation with international organizations and other countries to provide technical support and drug production technology to improve domestic production capacity.

Some opinions suggest that investing in research and development (R&D) in the pharmaceutical industry is one of the top priorities. And to promote this process, the Ministry of Health has encouraged research institutes and pharmaceutical enterprises to cooperate to develop new drugs and improve production processes.

In addition, the Ministry also focuses on propaganda and education on drug safety and drug shortages to raise public awareness. This helps people better understand the problem and cooperate with authorities.

In addition, the agency has taken strong measures to deal with violations in the field of drug supply, from counterfeiting drugs to non-compliance with drug price regulations.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/bo-y-te-lam-gi-de-giai-quyet-van-nan-thieu-thuoc-d228631.html