Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Pharmacy Association: "Dan Tri reporter recorded very accurately"

Regarding the recent report that we have made about a series of pharmacies in Ho Chi Minh City and "online markets" selling prescription drugs and special controlled drugs in defiance of legal regulations, a representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health said that the above situation is still complicated in the locality.

Authorities have been taking measures to inspect and strictly handle cases of intentionally selling illegal controlled drugs.

Dan Tri reporter contacted Associate Professor Pham Khanh Phong Lan, National Assembly delegate, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Pharmacy Association, to find a solution to completely solve the above problem and protect people's health in a sustainable way.

Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Association: Pharmaceutical distribution has "gone backwards"

Since the end of 2024, the National Assembly has passed the amended Pharmacy Law, with many necessary adjustments to help promote the development of the pharmaceutical industry, but at the same time strengthen the legal corridor in controlling illegal drug trafficking that is harmful to the community.

However, recently, Dan Tri newspaper has recorded the situation of selling specially controlled drugs in defiance of regulations happening in many areas in Ho Chi Minh City. What is your opinion on this?

- When the National Assembly revised the 2015 Pharmacy Law, it analyzed the situation. If we look at it from a social perspective, in terms of production conditions, factories, or technical means, we will see that there is development, becoming more and more modern. But in terms of pharmaceutical distribution, we have gone backwards.

Ms. Pham Khanh Phong Lan (Photo: Hoang Le).

We have made efforts, such as building the "Good Pharmacy Practice" (GPP) standard. This standard ensures that everyone passes the assessment. But then, during the process and progress of pharmacy operations, how do we maintain order?

The nature of the regulation of prescription drugs and special controlled drugs is to protect the rights of patients, because the correct use of drugs requires professional advice. This is the case all over the world. We - trained pharmacists - must also follow that principle. Drugs are not goods that anyone can buy or sell.

Here, we must say frankly that we are lax, and this situation has not happened "in a day or two" but has been going on for a long time. Sellers are chasing profits, because applying GPP standards has to refuse many buyers. On the other hand, people also have a mentality of liking convenience, always wanting to go straight to the pharmacy to buy quickly.

Compared to similar cases abroad, even if people are sick, no one will sell them to them right away at the pharmacy, but they need to go to the doctor. The doctor examines them and prescribes a prescription, then they can use that prescription to buy medicine. We can complain that this is inconvenient, but it ensures the safety and effectiveness of medicines and treatments.

Not to mention that selling drugs freely will not be able to control the origin of the drugs. We have to review the management method. A place to sell drugs, first of all, needs to be assessed by the authorities, from the way of storing and displaying to how to keep records, how to meet the temperature of drug storage, whether there is a pharmacist or not...

After being licensed, pharmacies need to continue to be monitored by inspectors. But the current pharmaceutical inspection force is extremely thin. More than 10 years ago, Ho Chi Minh City had more than 5,000 pharmacies. Now there are more than 8,000 pharmacies, while inspectors can only count them on their fingers, "powerless" to be able to inspect and control them comprehensively.

Ho Chi Minh City currently has more than 8,000 pharmacies (Photo: Hoang Le).

In the era of science and technology development, online drug trading has also appeared. Currently, the law allows the sale of non-prescription drugs online, but what mechanism is there to ensure that they only sell prescription drugs?

Obviously, there is free trading of prescription drugs and controlled drugs in pharmacies. Dan Tri reporter recorded the above situation very accurately.

Severe consequences

What are the consequences of selling prescription drugs and controlled substances without "control"?

- The first and most obvious harm is ineffective treatment, incorrect treatment, and even death.

Second, creating bad habits makes people underestimate drugs. Not to mention the indiscriminate use of antibiotics causes antibiotic resistance, leading to the drugs gradually losing their effectiveness.

I am extremely concerned about parents coming in with a sore throat and fever, and then the pharmacy sells them a pack of antibiotics. The symptoms may go away in 2-3 days, but over time, they will become resistant to the medicine. If you know someone who works in a hospital, they will hear stories about incurable hospital infections, doctors watching patients die because no antibiotics can cure them.

In addition to the fact that pharmacies sell prescription drugs and controlled drugs in defiance of regulations, we must also mention the situation where some clinics, after examining patients, also sell drugs to patients. Who guarantees professional regulations and guarantees that these drugs are genuine?

Not to mention tax evasion, counterfeit drugs, smuggled drugs, and low-quality drugs mixed in. It must be said that this is a problem that our health sector has not been able to solve for many years.

Prescription drug area at a pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: Hoang Le).

In addition to the easy wholesale situation, according to our records, many places, including concentrated "wholesale market" areas selling drugs, also have the situation of displaying baskets of drugs outside the door without being covered in specialized cabinets. In your opinion, does this affect the quality of the drugs?

- Over the past years, I have seen that we have focused mainly on price management, while there are still many problems with controlling the quality of drugs circulating on the market.

Medicines must be carefully preserved in a strictly controlled environment and temperature, according to each batch and the nature of each type of medicine. Leaving medicine on a basket or on the street is unacceptable. In addition to lax management, patients are also too easy-going.

Not only is there the situation of leaving medicine on the basket for sale, if you go to the West, you will see in some places, medicine is displayed for sale on people's boats. Even food displayed on baskets to be carried everywhere is not safe, let alone medicine which is a specially controlled item.

In concentrated drug sales areas, or popularly known as "wholesale markets", we can completely control them, using software to track pills, trace their origin from registration batch numbers, manufacturers, drug testing...

Vietnam has two large national testing institutes in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, while the provinces have drug and cosmetic testing centers.

But we also need to pay attention to increasing sampling at the end of the source, when the product is in the pharmacy and the hospital's Pharmacy Department, to see if the drug still meets the quality criteria according to the time of circulation on the market and the storage process.

Poor storage can cause the active ingredients and excipients of the drug to change properties or become damaged.

Activities at a concentrated drug sales area in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: Dieu Linh).

And the problem here is that there are people who circumvent the law to make profits regardless of people's lives. This is unacceptable for reasons of livelihood or poor management.

Need to strengthen the role of professional associations?

In your role as President of the Ho Chi Minh City Pharmacy Association and a National Assembly delegate, what solutions do you think the community, professional associations and authorities have to control the trade and use of specially controlled drugs in a sustainable manner and avoid the situation of smuggled and poor quality drugs that are harmful to people's health?

- The immediate solution is to conduct proper inspections. Inspectors can use their expertise, pretending to be people buying medicine to catch them red-handed, detect violations, and make records of severe penalties to deter and set an example.

There have been cases where the police discovered establishments illegally selling psychotropic and addictive drugs. Even though the pharmacist let the assistant pharmacist sell them, the person directly responsible at the pharmacy still had his or her practice certificate revoked. If the person directly sells them, he or she will be prosecuted and imprisoned, there is no other way.

In addition, technology must be applied to enhance supervision in ensuring prescriptions.

The long-term solution, I think, must rely on professional associations, formerly known as the "Pharmacists' Association". All pharmacists and pharmacy owners must join the Pharmacists' Association, and must supervise each other.

Currently, the information and complaints that we use as a basis for inspection are mostly from insiders, from pharmacies that, due to competition, discover each other's violations.

Working at a hospital pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City

If the professional association is strong enough and the professional factors are not lacking, it will add a very strong force to participate in the monitoring process. However, after many revisions to the regulations, the role of professional associations in our country is still very unclear, when they are only allowed to participate in training to supplement pharmacist knowledge, and participate in the appraisal council of the Department of Health with 1 representative.

As long as we have not built a good inspection and supervision system, but only rely on the voluntary and self-awareness of each pharmacy, it will be very difficult. Not to mention that currently there are very few pharmacists in pharmacies, mainly drug representatives. The professional and consulting role of pharmacists has also been underestimated.

On the people’s side, we need to be vigilant and learn clearly about medicines and functional foods. Nowadays, medical examination and treatment have become much more convenient. For our own benefit, we should consult a doctor at the hospital or go to a clinic.

Many people still have the mentality of "I have money, I can buy any medicine I want". If any medicine could be bought everywhere, we would be dead.

Thank you for your heartfelt sharing!

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/chu-tich-hoi-duoc-hoc-tphcm-phong-vien-dan-tri-ghi-nhan-rat-chinh-xac-20250414130729232.htm