Proposal for health insurance to pay for male medical treatment

Men's diseases are included in the international classification of diseases by the World Health Organization, but treatment drugs are not currently covered by health insurance. Experts propose to include them in the payment list.

The proposal was raised by Professor Nguyen Anh Tri (former Director of the Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion) at a recent discussion session in the National Assembly.

On November 24, answering VnExpress , Mr. Tri said that in the past, people often considered male diseases as "playful diseases" without thinking of them as pathological diseases. Meanwhile, impotence, weak physiology... greatly affect the quality of life, especially the cause of infertility.

"WHO has included male diseases in the international classification of diseases, so drugs to treat these diseases should be covered by health insurance," said Mr. Tri.

Sharing the same view, Dr. Nguyen The Luong, Deputy Director of Hanoi Kidney Hospital, said that the number of people suffering from male diseases is increasing. A study from the University of Massachusetts (USA) showed that erectile dysfunction occurs in about 42% of men between the ages of 40 and 70. The rate of premature ejaculation is about 30%, meaning that one in three men suffer from the disease. Vietnam has no official statistics on the number of people suffering from male diseases.

A patient consults with a male urologist. Photo: Health — A patient receives male medical advice. Photo: *Health*

According to Dr. Luong, men with this group of diseases directly affect their health, quality of life and family happiness. Therefore, the need for treatment is increasing. However, not all cases are eligible for treatment because male medicine is quite expensive. For example, Viagra - treatment of erectile dysfunction, costs about 10 USD/pill. Medicine to treat premature ejaculation also costs nearly 10 USD/pill. Products related to endocrine such as lubricants, the treatment cost is about 2 million/month, injections are more than 1 million/month. Even tests related to male medicine are expensive, about more than 1 million VND for one time.

"Many men have to go home after the examination because they cannot afford to buy the medicine," said Dr. Luong, adding that if these medicines were partially covered by health insurance, it would help patients easily access men's health care services.

Recently, experts also proposed that health insurance cover the cost of infertility treatment. Regarding this proposal, a representative of the Vietnam Social Security Agency said that whether health insurance covers the cost in the future or not needs to be considered by policy makers based on an assessment of the budget; the impact of the new policy on the health insurance fund, financial capacity, and regulations on appropriate support levels.

Le Nga - Le Phuong

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