Urgently establish at least 3 centers for stockpiling rare medicines.

Given the current demand for rare medicines in the country, especially in emergency situations where immediate treatment is unavailable, Mr. Le Viet Dung, Deputy Director of the Drug Administration Department ( Ministry of Health ), told the press this morning, May 27th, that in accordance with the Prime Minister's directive, the Ministry of Health has been urgently implementing the establishment of centers for stockpiling rare and limited-supply medicines, with plans to establish 3-6 centers nationwide.

Khẩn trương lập ít nhất 3 trung tâm dự trữ thuốc hiếm - Ảnh 1. — The Ministry of Health is planning to stockpile the rare drug BAT, used to treat botulinum poisoning cases.

The number of drugs in the reserve list is approximately 15-20. Botulinum is one of the drugs included in this list.

"The Drug Administration is also meeting with the World Health Organization (WHO) to study WHO's storage mechanisms and how to create a connection between the storage of rare and scarce drugs in Vietnam and surrounding countries in the region and WHO's warehouses," Mr. Dung added.

Currently, the legal framework for rare drugs is basically complete. Therefore, the Drug Administration has issued documents requesting medical facilities nationwide to proactively assess needs, forecast disease outbreaks, and estimate the necessary quantities and procure drugs to ensure sufficient supply for treatment, especially for rare drugs.

Mr. Dung said that most recently, with the botulinum poisoning cases that just occurred in Ho Chi Minh City, immediately after the Ministry of Health received reports from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health (May 21) and Cho Ray Hospital (May 23), the Ministry of Health immediately contacted domestic and foreign drug suppliers and WHO to get treatment drugs as soon as possible.

The minimum time for drug delivery to Vietnam from the time of ordering from foreign manufacturers is 14 days. Therefore, to expedite the drug delivery process, the Ministry of Health proactively contacted the WHO, requesting assistance in sourcing drugs from regional and global stockpiles to ensure the earliest possible domestic supply. The WHO reported that there were 6 vials of the drug remaining in the global stockpile in Switzerland and immediately dispatched experts to transport the drug to Vietnam that same day. On May 24th, the drug arrived in Vietnam, and the Ministry of Health immediately distributed it to medical facilities for patient treatment.

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