Medical news on July 11: Ho Chi Minh City informs about anti-counterfeiting and trade fraud

Fine of over 2 billion VND for violations of counterfeit goods and commercial fraud

According to the report, the Department of Health inspected 226 establishments in various fields, including: 6 cosmetic establishments, 80 pharmaceutical establishments, 121 medical equipment manufacturing and trading establishments and 19 medical examination and treatment establishments.

As a result, 41 establishments were punished for violations, with a total fine of more than VND2.27 billion. In addition, the authorities also forced them to return the violated exhibits (cosmetics) worth more than VND39.7 million.

Authorities inspect a business establishment.

The special task force discovered 3 establishments in violation, including 2 establishments violating advertising regulations and 1 establishment trading in goods of unknown origin. The total fine for these violations was more than 572 million VND.

At the district level, the Health Department of districts and Thu Duc City inspected 1,059 medical and pharmaceutical establishments, thereby handling 14 establishments for violations with a total fine of more than 169 million VND.

In particular, in the field of medical equipment, the Department of Health has issued 17 decisions to recall a total of 364 standard announcements applicable to products of types A and B.

Many of these products were found to have false declarations, such as: hand sanitizer gel, blood glucose meter, massage machine, feminine hygiene solution, ear - nose - throat care tools...

Through inspection, the Department of Health recorded many common violations of the enterprise, including products not meeting the definition of medical devices; misclassifying risk levels; self-lowering risk levels; incomplete self-declaration records or inaccurate information.

While no fake or poor quality medical equipment has been discovered in hospitals and medical centers, the Department of Health still warns that some businesses are taking advantage of the self-declaration mechanism to commit fraud, lowering the risk level from group C or D to group A or B in order to easily declare and participate in bidding.

To tighten management, in the coming time, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health will strengthen supervision of self-declaration of medical equipment, and at the same time deploy 5 groups of synchronous solutions to protect public health and ensure the legitimate rights of legitimate businesses.

People can report cases of illegal production, business and advertising via hotline 0989.401.155 or the "Online Health" application operated by the Department of Health.

Hanoi pilots ready-to-eat meals for schools and hospitals

Hanoi is piloting a model of boarding school meals for students by organizing ready-made meals centrally, and plans to expand this model to hospitals to control the entire food processing process, ensuring food safety, hygiene and nutrition.

The above information was announced by Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Vu Thu Ha at the question and answer session held on the morning of July 9, within the framework of the 25th session of the Hanoi People's Council, term XVI. This is a question and answer session on food safety.

According to Ms. Vu Thu Ha, the ready-to-eat meal model is designed to minimize intermediary steps in food processing and supply, helping the city to more closely control the quality, origin of input materials, processing procedures as well as age-appropriate nutrition. The pilot will be implemented from the 2025-2026 school year in a number of schools, before expanding to medical facilities in the next phase.

In recent times, food safety assurance in Hanoi has seen many positive changes thanks to the synchronous participation of the entire political system and the efforts of all levels and sectors. The city currently has about 80,000 food production and trading establishments under the management of three sectors: health, agriculture - environment and industry and trade.

Faced with the reality of a large, diverse and difficult-to-control number of establishments, Hanoi has established nearly 1,000 food safety inspection teams at all levels.

From 2023 to now, the city has imposed fines of more than 52 billion VND, and in the first 5 months of 2025 alone, the fine amount has reached about 10 billion VND. Notably, the city has prosecuted 11 cases related to food safety violations, with 21 defendants.

In addition to imposing fines, Hanoi also publicized the list of violating establishments on mass media, and honored and rewarded units that complied well with food safety regulations. Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Vu Thu Ha affirmed that the awareness of organizations and individuals producing and trading food has improved significantly and since the beginning of the year, the city has not had any major food poisoning cases.

However, according to Ms. Vu Thu Ha, there are still many challenges. Therefore, in the coming time, the city will continue to review and adjust the food safety management model towards clear people, clear work, clear responsibilities, especially decentralizing specifically to two-level local authorities.

Along with that is improving the capacity of specialized cadres, promoting the role of grassroots authorities, the Fatherland Front and mass organizations in monitoring, propaganda, and raising awareness of people and businesses.

The city will also strengthen inspection of food sources brought from other provinces into Hanoi, and coordinate with other sectors to promptly detect and handle violations.

The application of information technology and digital transformation in food safety management will also be promoted. Hanoi will publicize establishments that meet food safety requirements so that people can easily look them up, and at the same time warn and recommend locations that do not meet safety standards so that people can be careful when choosing.

Along with the ready-to-eat meal model, Hanoi will pilot the construction of controlled food commercial areas and food streets, ensuring hygiene standards and clear food origins. These locations will operate according to criteria and standards issued by the city, thereby contributing to improving the quality and safety of street food services.

“The implementation of new models will certainly impact many target groups. Therefore, we hope that every citizen of the capital will join us, become a smart consumer, choose food with clear origin, say no to dirty food, fake goods, counterfeit goods, and poor quality goods,” Vice Chairman of the City People’s Committee Vu Thu Ha emphasized.

Ministry of Health continues to abolish more administrative procedures in the pharmaceutical sector

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen has signed a decision to promulgate a number of new administrative procedures and abolish a number of administrative procedures in the pharmaceutical sector under the management of the Ministry of Health.

This is the content stipulated in Circular No. 31/2025/TT-BYT dated July 1, 2025 of the Minister of Health, to specify the Law on Pharmacy and Decree No. 163/2025/ND-CP dated June 29, 2025 of the Government.

According to the newly issued decision, the Ministry of Health announced a new administrative procedure and abolished four previous administrative procedures. Specifically, the newly issued administrative procedure is "Declaration of business establishments with organized drug shelves" in the pharmaceutical sector, implemented by the specialized health agency under the provincial People's Committee. This procedure replaces the old procedure to simplify the process, ensure clarity, transparency and easier implementation in practice.

Along with that, four administrative procedures were abolished, including: procedures for announcing educational institutions testing languages in pharmaceutical practice (central level), procedures for testing and recognizing language proficiency in pharmaceutical practice, procedures for recognizing proficiency in Vietnamese or proficiency in other languages in pharmaceutical practice, and procedures for announcing business establishments with organized drug shelves (provincial level).

This abolition is to eliminate procedures that are no longer appropriate, duplicated or have been replaced by clearer regulations in the new document. The abolished procedures were previously issued under Circular No. 07/2018/TT-BYT and Decision No. 3949/QD-BYT dated June 28, 2018, and are also abolished under this decision.

Streamlining procedures also contributes to creating more favorable conditions for organizations and individuals operating in the pharmaceutical sector, in line with the development orientation of a modern, transparent healthcare sector that focuses on serving people and businesses.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/tin-moi-y-te-ngay-117-tphcm-thong-tin-ve-chong-hang-gia-gian-lan-thuong-mai-d328206.html