Prescribing long-term medication reduces patient hardship

Instead of being prescribed for a maximum of 30 days as before, patients with chronic diseases can now be prescribed for up to nearly 90 days. This new regulation not only helps patients save time and travel costs but also reduces the burden on upper-level medical facilities.

Many patients with chronic diseases have been given long-term medication according to Circular 26 of the Ministry of Health .

The joy of patients in remote areas

Being old, for many years he has had to live with a number of chronic diseases such as kidney failure, high blood pressure, etc. His house is far away, in Bu Dang commune, so at least once a month, Mr. Vo Ngoc Thien has to travel nearly 60km to Binh Phuoc General Hospital for a check-up and to get medicine.

However, at a recent re-examination, Mr. Thien's inconvenience of having to go to the hospital frequently was resolved when the doctor prescribed him medication that would last for nearly 3 months before he had to return to the hospital.

Happily holding more medicine than usual in his hand, Mr. Thien shared: “At my age, I have many illnesses, but these illnesses do not have any complications. As long as I take the medicine regularly, I feel healthy. However, before, I had to go get medicine every month, and each trip was very expensive, the transportation fee was almost equal to the medicine cost. Now, I can get medicine at once and take it for 3 months without having to go to the hospital. I find it very convenient.”

Mr. Nguyen Bat Van, Binh Tan commune, Dong Nai province received a 60-day prescription for his chronic illness.

Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Bat Van (living in Binh Tan commune, his house is more than 50km from the hospital), was also prescribed medicine by doctors for more than 2 months. He happily said: “We are old, it is difficult to travel, and before, the doctor prescribed medicine for 30 days at most, so we had to go to the hospital every month, which was a bother to our children and grandchildren… costly and time-consuming. Now, there is a new regulation from the Ministry of Health to prescribe medicine at one time for chronically ill people like me, which is very appropriate.”

Not everyone is prescribed long-term medication.

According to the leader of Binh Phuoc General Hospital, after Circular 26 of the Ministry of Health took effect, in order to best serve patients, the unit has made quite careful preparations: informing the entire team of doctors and departments; at the same time, the amount of medicine provided to patients has also been fully prepared.

However, depending on the progression and type of disease of each patient, the doctor will decide to prescribe the appropriate medication, not all cases are prescribed long-term medication.

Circular 26 issued by the Ministry of Health also aims to help reduce overload at medical facilities.

Dr. Ngo Van Kien, Deputy Director of Binh Phuoc General Hospital, added: “Prescribing according to Circular 26 is applied to 252 chronic diseases according to the list prescribed by the Ministry of Health. However, to prescribe drugs for patients from more than 30 days to less than 90 days, these diseases must be the main diseases, stable, monitored over time and have no complications. Besides, there are also many people with co-morbidities (many diseases at the same time)... For example, people with high blood pressure and hepatitis B, we have to consider, cannot prescribe long-term in order to screen for diseases regularly, ensuring the health of the patient”.

In fact, since Circular 26 of the Ministry of Health was applied, most patients have welcomed it with joy because they no longer have to go to the hospital many times to get examined and get medicine to treat their illness. Not only that, the distancing of people with stable medical conditions from going to the hospital also helps medical facilities reduce overload. These are the advantages and humanity of Circular 26 of the Ministry of Health.

Nguyen Tan - Trung Quang

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202507/ke-don-thuoc-dai-ngay-nguoi-benh-bot-gian-nan-42203ad/