Prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the market through prescription management and prescription sales

Many loopholes for counterfeit drugs from buying and selling drugs without prescription

Recently, the police force discovered a ring selling more than 20 types of fake drugs, of which more than 1/3 were prescription drugs with a total transaction value of more than 200 billion VND. This raises the question: where are fake drugs prescribed, are drug retailers allowed to sell prescription drugs without a prescription, and where is the responsibility of the health management agency?

According to the World Health Organization, about 93% of prescription drug purchases in Vietnam are made without a prescription. Vietnam is among the top 10 countries with the highest rates of drug resistance in the world. The main cause of drug resistance is that patients and pharmacists prescribe and sell drugs without a prescription, even though the law does not allow this.

Many reports on drug resistance and deaths due to drug resistance from major hospitals nationwide are also showing that the cause of death and the number of patients dying at end-line hospitals due to drug resistance are increasing (infections, fungi... causing death to patients during the treatment of the original disease).

Recently, sharing with the press about the difficulties in managing the origin and route of the pills, Mr. Ta Manh Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Drug Administration, Ministry of Health said that wholesale and retail establishments buying and selling drugs without invoices and documents, and drugs of unknown origin are the main reasons for counterfeit drugs to be able to penetrate the legal pharmaceutical market.

The representative of the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association said that if we continue to use paper prescriptions and computer prescriptions that do not meet the current standards for electronic prescriptions, we will still encounter problems that will never be solved, such as not being able to verify whether the prescription is real or not; not being able to verify whether the prescription has been sold or not, or whether a part or all of it has been sold. Therefore, people can re-purchase the same prescription many times; there is no warning that the prescription has expired.

Promote the operation of the national information system on prescription management and prescription drug sales

Since 2019, the Ministry of Health has begun piloting the National Information System on prescription management and prescription drug sales. To date, 100% of retail pharmacies have software provided free of charge, the connection process is simple, and there are no costs incurred in connecting electronic prescriptions. Entering electronic prescription codes into the retail facility management software is simple and saves 3-6 minutes when selling.

The effectiveness of electronic prescription linkage is very clear, helping the state management of prescription management to be transparent when there is full information about the prescriber, medical examination facility and drug retail facility. Each prescription is assigned a unique identification code, helping to prevent the reuse of prescriptions, counterfeit prescriptions, and ensuring that prescription drugs are only sold when there is a valid prescription.

However, according to the latest data updated by the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association, the new system records that there are 11,213 medical examination and treatment facilities of all types regularly implementing prescription linkage out of a total of more than 60,000 facilities operating nationwide.

Many large hospitals at the end of the line have not yet connected prescriptions or only connected insurance prescriptions but not prescriptions for examination and treatment on demand. Most private medical facilities have not yet implemented connected prescriptions.

Besides, many drug retail establishments, including hospital pharmacies, have not yet sold prescription drugs using electronic prescription codes as prescribed in the Circular.

Up to this point, many medical facilities still prescribe medicine manually on paper, prescribe on software but not according to the standards of Circular 04/2022/TT-BYT or prescribe on software but not connected to the system.

"Currently, there are nearly 40,000 private medical facilities that have not been connected to the system. Of the 218 million prescriptions that have been recorded, only 3.6 million outpatient prescriptions have been confirmed to have been sold at pharmacies," according to information from the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association.

Regarding this issue, the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association has sent a document to the Government requesting close direction on the implementation of electronic prescriptions nationwide with the following solutions: Requiring all pharmacies to only sell prescription drugs when there is a valid electronic prescription. Having strict sanctions for violating establishments; regularly inspecting using information technology; maintaining and upgrading a stable and sustainable information technology system.

On May 9, 2025, the Government Office issued Official Dispatch No. 4028/VPCP-KGVX to the Ministry of Health requesting the promotion of electronic prescriptions, connecting electronic prescriptions on the "National Information System on Prescription Management and Prescription Drug Sales" and directing strict implementation of prescription drug sales.

Faced with the reality of cases of counterfeit medicine production and trading discovered in some localities, in Official Dispatch No. 3700/VPCP-KGVX dated April 28, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long requested the Ministry of Health to promote and improve the efficiency of connecting drug supply facilities, electronic medical records, and electronic prescriptions.

The current electronic prescription interconnection is too slow and the interconnection rate has only reached a very modest number. If we do not accelerate the application of information technology in prescription management and prescription drug sales management, people will continue to face many health consequences, not only antibiotic resistance, but also the use of counterfeit drugs as in the cases recently discovered by the police.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/ngan-thuoc-gia-vao-thi-truong-bang-quan-ly-ke-don-va-ban-thuoc-theo-don-post878940.html