Authorities inspect the trading of medicines, cosmetics, medical equipment, nutritional products and health protection foods in Bac Ninh province.
Public health threat
Counterfeit drugs, once considered a localized problem, have now become a systemic challenge to public health. With increasingly sophisticated methods, complex distribution networks, and the rapid development of e-commerce, counterfeit drugs, drugs of unknown origin, and poor quality drugs are infiltrating even the most legitimate distribution channels.
During the peak period of anti-counterfeiting from May 15 to June 15, the Ministry of Health coordinated with functional forces to inspect 38 pharmaceutical production and trading establishments, discovering 17 establishments in violation. In Hanoi, two large pharmacies, Duc Anh and An An, were also discovered to be trading in counterfeit drugs. Specifically, Duc Anh sold Nexium - a popular stomach treatment - along with many other smuggled drugs of unknown origin; while An An distributed counterfeit Theophylline extended-release tablets for respiratory treatment.
Most recently, Ho Chi Minh City police have prosecuted 19 defendants in a large-scale counterfeit drug production and trading ring run by a husband and wife under the guise of a cosmetics company. This ring has counterfeited nearly 70,000 bottles of foreign branded essential oils, equivalent to the value of genuine goods of more than 6 billion VND.
The above-mentioned typical cases are just the tip of the iceberg. According to the Drug Administration of Vietnam (Ministry of Health), in the first months of 2025, the national testing system collected more than 16,000 drug samples and discovered 16 substandard samples. This is a modest number when placed in the context of hundreds of millions of prescriptions written each year.
Difficult to manage drug market in cyberspace
That limitation is even more evident when placed next to the hot reality from the Government's aggregated figures. According to Notice No. 341/TB-VPCP concluding the Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the National Online Conference summarizing the work in the first 6 months of 2025 and summarizing the peak period of the fight to prevent and repel smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit goods, and infringement of intellectual property rights, in the first 6 months of 2025 alone, the whole country handled more than 50,000 violations, prosecuted more than 1,800 cases with more than 3,200 defendants; in the peak period of May and June alone, more than 10,400 cases were handled, and more than 200 cases were prosecuted. This is evidence that counterfeit goods - including counterfeit drugs - are no longer an isolated phenomenon, but a systemic, organized, and large-scale problem.
Not only is the monitoring system still passive, the increasingly dense appearance of counterfeit drugs on e-commerce platforms and social networks has turned the digital space into an uncontrollable “underground drug market”. With a few clicks, consumers can buy any product, from painkillers to cancer treatment drugs, without a prescription or verification of origin.
The problem is that the looser the system is, the easier it is for people to become victims. Dr. Nguyen Huy Hoang, Vietnam - Russia Tropical Center, Ministry of National Defense analyzed: “Counterfeit drugs may not contain active ingredients, contain the wrong dosage or be mixed with toxic impurities. This not only directly affects the patient's health, but also increases the risk of drug resistance, making the disease more difficult to treat, even life-threatening. For chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer, using counterfeit drugs means losing the chance to live.”
The consequences of counterfeit drugs are multi-layered. From a medical perspective, they exacerbate complications, prolong hospital stays, increase treatment costs, and drain hospital resources.
Economically, counterfeit drugs cause serious damage to the pharmaceutical industry, distort the market, and cause unfair competition for legitimate businesses. Socially, the most worrying thing is the decline in trust: when even large pharmacies sell counterfeit drugs, when prescription drugs are still at risk of being counterfeited, the relationship between patients - doctors - pharmacists is no longer guaranteed by the inherent foundation of trust.
In such a context, counterfeit drugs are not just a product violation, but a clear sign of a systemic flaw – from technical oversight, to handling violations, to public awareness. And as long as these flaws are not closed, patients will continue to suffer the consequences – sometimes with their own lives.
Declaring an uncompromising war on counterfeit drugs
If the surface of the counterfeit drug problem is the cases that have been discovered, the hidden part - and more dangerous - is the long-standing gap in management.
Recently, at a meeting with voters in Hanoi on the afternoon of July 2, General Secretary To Lam expressed deep concern about the problem of counterfeit goods, especially fake food and medicine. The General Secretary emphasized that this is an "extremely cruel" act, especially when the victims are children who need milk to grow, the elderly who need medicine to recover from illness, but encounter fake products that further harm their health.
The statement was not only a warning but also conveyed a clear political message: There can be no forbidden zones, no exceptions in this war.
Dr. Ta Manh Hung - Deputy Director of the Drug Administration Department said that this agency is comprehensively reviewing regulations related to drug management, paying special attention to increasing penalties for repeat offenses, organized offenses or those that cause serious consequences for patients. At the same time, the Ministry of Health is also stepping up post-inspection, increasing inspections and surprise checks at pharmacies and retail establishments, especially those with signs of abnormalities in drug origin, sales or false advertising.
The Ministry of Health is also building a national drug database to manage everything from licensing, distribution to prescription and retail. Technologies such as product identification codes, QR code tracing, and interconnected data platforms will be tools to support early detection and prevention of counterfeit drugs.
The fight against counterfeit drugs is not just an administrative responsibility. It is a test of management capacity, the ability to apply technology and especially - a measure of the morality of a society. When fraudulent acts can directly harm lives, silence is no longer neutrality - but complicity. Therefore, the urgent need is to take comprehensive action.
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Source: https://baolaocai.vn/tuyen-chien-voi-thuoc-gia-yeu-cau-hanh-dong-toan-dien-post648054.html
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