Permission to proactively import rare drugs and specialized drugs

Accordingly, Decree No. 84/2024/ND-CP allows the creation of a mechanism for Ho Chi Minh City to be decentralized in deciding on the licensing of drug imports to meet special treatment needs arising during the medical examination and treatment process for a number of drug groups as prescribed for medical examination and treatment facilities under the management of the City.

Regarding this issue, Associate Professor, Dr. Tang Chi Thuong - Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health said that in recent years, although medical centers in the area have seriously implemented drug bidding for medical stations, the results of drug supply bidding of most district medical centers and Thu Duc City are still limited.

However, the drug list does not fully meet the needs of medical examination and treatment at health stations, and is not suitable for the actual expectations of the people and treating doctors.

Besides, the procurement of drugs for grassroots health care is still facing some difficulties such as the process of selecting drug suppliers is prolonged, and the number of items for which no contractor is selected is high.

The main reason is that many suppliers do not participate in bidding when the quantity of drugs purchased by each medical center is small compared to the quantity of drugs supplied to upper-level treatment units. Along with that, the human resources of the medical centers conducting the bidding are both lacking in quantity and lacking in professionalism.

To overcome this situation, the Department of Health has identified "ensuring drug supply for grassroots health care as one of the key tasks of the city's health sector."

Ho Chi Minh City is allowed to proactively import rare drugs and specialized drugs. Illustrative photo.

“Since the Law on Bidding took effect from January 1, 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has developed a general drug procurement plan for grassroots health care to increase the capacity to supply drugs for treatment needs, especially for health stations in the area. This policy has received consensus from the People's Committees of districts, towns, and Thu Duc City and has been implemented for health centers,” Mr. Thuong shared.

The Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health also said that the Department has compiled a list of drugs from medical centers for the Generic Drug Bidding Package with more than 400 drug lists and the Herbal Medicine Bidding Package, drugs combining pharmaceutical ingredients with medicinal herbs, traditional medicines with nearly 60 drug lists.

At the same time, the Department of Health has also assigned Hung Vuong Hospital and Traditional Medicine Hospital, which are hospitals with guaranteed capacity and experience, to be the inviting parties for the above two packages and mobilized human resources from the health sector to participate in supporting the selection of contractors. Up to now, these hospitals are urgently implementing the instructions. It is expected that by September 2024, Ho Chi Minh City will have the results of the selection of contractors to start supplying drugs to medical centers and health stations.

In addition to efforts to supply drugs to the grassroots health care system, the Department of Health also pays special attention to the supply of drugs to the local medical examination and treatment system. To grasp the drug supply situation, the Department of Health has established a working group to support drug procurement and coordination.

Accordingly, the working group will receive information on drug supply from medical facilities every week to provide timely support. In particular, for rare drugs, the Department of Health has regularly contacted the Ministry of Health to have many measures to support hospitals.

At the same time, the Department of Health also reported to the Drug Administration and promptly imported to Vietnam some rare drugs to meet treatment needs such as globulin, diphtheria antitoxin serum, methotrexate... Up to now, some drugs have completed licensing procedures and are continuing to be imported to Vietnam in the coming time.

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