Health Minister: Counterfeit drugs are not found in public hospitals

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan admitted that the work of preventing and combating counterfeit drugs in recent times still has many issues that need to be corrected. (Source: Quochoi.vn)

Explaining at the National Assembly’s socio-economic discussion session this morning (June 18), Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that the situation of fake drugs and fake foods is not only a problem in Vietnam but also a global concern. According to US statistics, each year the world loses about 600 billion USD due to fake drugs and functional foods.

Counterfeit drug prevention and control work still has many issues that need to be corrected.

Ms. Dao Hong Lan said that Vietnam has actively prevented and combated this problem. The current Criminal Code stipulates the highest penalty for the act of producing fake drugs is the death penalty. "Our view is that we must deal with acts related to fake drugs and food at the most severe level because this is an issue that directly affects people's health," Ms. Lan emphasized.

However, the Minister of Health also admitted that the work of preventing and combating counterfeit drugs in recent times still has many issues that need to be rectified, including the legal system and enforcement team. The Ministry of Health has advised the Government to issue many documents to perfect the legal framework, while tightening coordination between functional forces.

In response to the opinion of delegates reflecting the situation of fake drugs entering hospitals, Ms. Lan affirmed that all drugs in public hospitals must go through bidding and have strict control over their origin. "Fake drugs can exist in the market, but not in public hospitals," she affirmed.

In the coming time, the Ministry of Health will continue to coordinate with the National Steering Committee 389, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and relevant ministries and branches to strictly control the drug and functional food market, both in advertising and distribution.

According to Minister Dao Hong Lan, many recent major cases such as fake drugs in Thanh Hoa, fake cosmetics in Dong Nai, the Kera candy case of Nguyen Thi Thai Hang (Hang Du Muc)... were all discovered by the Ministry of Health and investigated and handled in coordination with the Ministry of Public Security. "This is a testament to the determination of the health sector in the fight against fake drugs and fake food," Ms. Lan emphasized.

Delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu. (Source: Quochoi.vn)

Need to improve the quality of primary health care

In the previous discussion session, many delegates raised the issue of counterfeit, fake, poor quality, and unknown origin goods circulating on the market, including fake drugs and fake functional foods.

Delegate Mai Van Hai (Thanh Hoa) said that with many sophisticated tricks from production, transportation to consumption of products, fake, counterfeit, and poor quality goods have infiltrated all aspects of life, making voters and people very upset and angry.

State management, market management, post-inspection work as well as the individualization of responsibilities of agencies, organizations and individuals still have certain shortcomings and limitations, and the handling is not strong enough to deter.

Delegate Do Thi Lan (Quang Ninh) pointed out that the overload situation at hospitals such as K, Bach Mai, Viet Duc... is mainly due to lack of equipment, medical supplies and human resources, and so far there has been no definitive solution.

"I went to K hospital and witnessed patients waiting for medical examination, many cancer patients were tired of waiting for radiotherapy. Many cancer patients have difficult circumstances due to long treatment time, increased costs and most of them come from the provinces to Hanoi for cancer examination and treatment.

Every day, the hospital has to receive over 2,000 people for examination. Meanwhile, there is a lack of equipment, specifically ultrasound machines, CT scanners... Therefore, patients have to wait for examination, wait for results, especially in cancer treatment, there is a lack of radiotherapy machines, so many people do not receive timely intervention, losing the opportunity for treatment during the golden hour to prolong life" - delegate Do Thi Lan shared.

According to delegate Nguyen Quang Huan (Binh Duong), upper-level hospitals such as Bach Mai, 108, and Viet Duc are overloaded partly due to lack of medical equipment and supplies, poor physical conditions due to service prices, etc.

However, delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu (Director of Hanoi Medical University Hospital) argued that the overload of upper-level hospitals is not due to unused machinery and equipment, if any, the number is very small. According to him, the overload is mainly due to people losing faith and not trusting district and provincial hospitals, so they go to the central level. Mr. Hieu emphasized the need to improve the quality of healthcare at the grassroots level, especially when there is no longer a district level.

Medical staff need to be protected in all situations.

Minister Dao Hong Lan said the overload situation at central hospitals continues, the main reason being the difference in professional capacity and service quality between regions, and between upper and lower levels.

In recent times, the health sector has implemented many synchronous solutions to overcome this situation. In particular, the application of information technology and digital transformation has been promoted to shorten waiting time and increase management efficiency; the remote medical examination and treatment model has been widely deployed with professional support from leading doctors and professors of central hospitals for lower-level facilities.

The Minister cited the synchronous use of all three facilities of the Central K Hospital with a total investment of about 1,500 billion VND from many sources as one of the major efforts to reduce the overload. Bach Mai Hospital is also implementing many equipment procurement packages to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment.

In addition, two new facilities of Bach Mai and Viet Duc Hospitals in Ha Nam are being urgently completed and are expected to be put into operation by the end of 2025, contributing to sharing the load for hospitals in Hanoi. In addition to solutions for upper-level hospitals, the Ministry of Health also focuses on comprehensive investment in the grassroots health system, including human resources, equipment, and service quality.

"These solutions aim to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment across the entire system, from central to local levels," said Ms. Lan.

At the same time, Ms. Lan said that this year, the Ministry will calculate to implement a mechanism to "correctly and fully calculate" medical service prices to ensure fairness and sustainability for the public health system.

In addition, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan expressed concern about the legal framework to protect medical staff from acts of violence and insult, which is a very painful issue.

When drafting the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment (amended), the Ministry of Health proposed regulations to protect medical staff from abuse similar to those on duty. The current law also strictly prohibits acts of abuse against medical staff while on duty. However, in reality, many unfortunate incidents still occur, in which many parties reach a civil agreement and do not prosecute criminally.

"Acts of abuse against medical staff must be handled properly to ensure deterrence, because medical staff need to be protected in all situations," the Minister of Health emphasized.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/bo-truong-y-te-thuoc-gia-khong-co-trong-benh-vien-cong-318138.html