Flexibly resolve the shortage of drugs and medical supplies

SGGP 11/08/2023 05:35

The shortage of medicines and medical equipment has been continuously occurring in recent times, causing significant impacts on medical examination and treatment and people's health care. In response to this situation, the Government, the Ministry of Health and relevant ministries have issued many policies and mechanisms to resolve the issue.

Money is hard to spend

Every day, Cho Ray Hospital receives 5,000-5,500 outpatients for examination and treatment, so the demand for medicine, supplies, and medical equipment for professional work is very high. However, a while ago, the hospital also fell into a shortage of medicine and medical supplies due to procedural problems.

After the Government issued Resolution 30 on continuing to implement solutions to ensure medicine and medical equipment and the Ministry of Health had mechanisms to remove obstacles, Cho Ray Hospital has implemented a number of bidding packages for the procurement of medical equipment, supplies and medicines.

However, according to Dr. Nguyen Tri Thuc, Director of Cho Ray Hospital, although the policy has been "relaxed", in reality, the bidding for medical supplies and equipment is still very difficult, entangled in many regulations and procedures, leading to "money being available but difficult to spend". The worrying thing is that by January 2024, the revised Law on Bidding will take effect, so if guiding documents are not issued promptly, medical facilities will face difficulties in bidding and purchasing.

Doctors at Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City examine patients

“The risk of continuing to face a shortage of medicine, medical supplies and equipment during the Lunar New Year is very worrying,” said Dr. Nguyen Tri Thuc.

According to Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, the shortage of drugs, supplies, and medical equipment has both objective and subjective causes. To resolve difficulties and obstacles, the Ministry of Health continues to speed up the progress of drug issuance, extension, drug and medical equipment registration, and at the same time directs businesses to find sources of supply, especially for rare drugs; accelerates the reduction and simplification of administrative procedures, comprehensive decentralization of approval, authority to decide on procurement, and contractor selection plans for medical facilities under the Ministry of Health.

Strengthen inspection and supervision

Implementing Resolution 30 of the Government and the mechanism of the Ministry of Health, Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co, Director of Bach Mai Hospital, said that recently, the unit has implemented a procurement package of 4 magnetic resonance imaging machines, 2 CT machines, and 2 gastrointestinal endoscopy systems.

Sharing experiences in procurement and bidding, Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co affirmed that the top factor is solidarity, unity, and focus of the collective, especially strengthening the anti-corruption department; strengthening education on anti-corruption work for officials working in procurement and bidding, so that they can confidently make purchases. "If businesses are found bribing officials, the contract will be terminated and the competent authorities will be notified to support the hospital in judicial matters," Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co shared.

According to Dr. Trinh Ngoc Hai, Deputy Director of the National Children's Hospital, the hospital has established a specialized scientific council with the participation of many experts, along with small councils such as: drug procurement council; medical equipment procurement council; and testing materials and biological products procurement council to be responsible for assessing the list, active ingredients of drugs, configuration, and technical features of medical equipment and supplies. After that, the hospital will carry out bidding and procurement based on the opinions of the councils.

Promoting the production of essential drugs at Ha Tay Pharmaceutical Company, Hanoi City. Photo: VIET CHUNG

Not only central hospitals but also many provincial hospitals have solved the "problem" of drug and medical supplies shortages. Doctor Diem Son, Deputy Director of Yen Bai Provincial General Hospital, said that when there is a local drug shortage, localities should not focus on the issue of "my patients, your province's patients" but need to have connections and support so that patients do not have to be treated too far from home, and do not have to be transferred to higher levels, causing unnecessary overload.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Dr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, said that the department will continue to strengthen inspection, examination and close supervision of the activities of units in bidding for the procurement of equipment and consumables in order to proactively prevent, promptly detect and stop violations, causing damage to the state. At the same time, the directors of affiliated units are required to rectify the bidding activities for the procurement of medical equipment and supplies; take responsibility for the results of the bidding work at the unit, not to avoid or shirk responsibility...

According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Loi, Director of the Department of Infrastructure and Medical Equipment (Ministry of Health), the country currently has 65,000 types of medical equipment that are eligible for import and circulation in Vietnam to supply and basically meet the demand for medical equipment at medical facilities. From September 2022 to now, the unit has processed nearly 8,000 applications for licensing and appraisal of medical equipment (nearly 40 times more than the number of applications processed in the first 8 months of 2022).

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/linh-hoat-thao-go-tinh-trang-thieu-thuoc-vat-tu-y-te-post713171.html