Only a small portion of the medicine used in hospitals is produced in Viet Nam. Deputy Health Minister Cao Minh Quang spoke with Tin Tuc (News) newspaper about the issue

Why is it difficult to get local hospitals to use domestic pharmaceuticals?

In my opinion, you have to consider people's personal habits when it comes to purchasing and consuming medicine. Another issue that is causing me headaches and is quite concerning is that pharmaceutical companies are using their commissions to incentivise.

The problem is being fixed by the Ministry of Health. The Ministry issued a legal document in April this year asking all hospitals nationwide to give prescriptions for domestic pharmaceuticals, which have already expired the period of monopoly protection and are cheaper.

Last year, the health sector spent VND27 trillion(US$1.5 billion), while VND11 trillion ($600 million) was spent on purchasing pharmaceuticals and 70 per cent was used to patent medicine.

What challenges do local medicine producers face when they are producing pharmaceuticals?

There remains limitations on producing medicine whose content requires advanced technology, which makes the production of pharmaceuticals expensive because they also require massive research.

In addition, as many as 27 countries and multinational organisations throughout the world have the exclusive right to supply a number of different types of medicine. This puts Viet Nam into a situation where it has to pay a big sum of money or rely on the concessions and technology transfers from these countries and organisations.

What will the Ministry of Health do to help hospitals and communities get domestic pharmaceuticals more in the time to come?

The ministry is going to hold a workshop on "Vietnamese use Viet Nam-made medicine," which aims to encourage more people to use domestically produced medicine. Doctors will also abide by regulations that will force them to only prescribe medicine.

Hospital directors will be asked to promulgate medicine catalogues that are congruent with the treatment options in their hospitals. By so doing, pharmaceutical companies will be forced to stop using commissions as inducements for doctors, and therefore more Viet Nam-made medicine will be used in hospitals.

The ministry will also instruct Health Departments to inspect and punish pharmaceutical representatives who are luring doctors to prescribe medicine from their companies. Violators will have their practice licences revoked and their names will be published in the mass media. Companies with those pharmaceutical representatives will receive a b warning.

From Vietnamnews