On the evening of June 3, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong answered at the Government press conference about measures to remove difficulties in the field of medical equipment and drug shortages, especially rare drugs.
Regarding the issue of equipment, the Deputy Minister of Health said that the Ministry of Health has consulted and submitted to the Government to issue Decree No. 07/2023 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 98/2021 on the management of medical equipment. This includes a number of solutions to ensure supply related to the import of medical equipment. Up to now, the shortage of medical equipment related to import procedures has been basically resolved.
Specifically regarding import licenses, the Ministry has extended the validity of over 12,500 medical equipment import licenses until December 31, 2024.
Regarding the issuance of circulation numbers for medical equipment, up to now: Type A medical equipment has been issued to 27,847 records; Type B medical equipment has been issued to 14,508 records; Type C and D medical equipment has been issued to 1,673 records.
Regarding the issue of drug shortages, especially rare drugs, Ms. Huong said that the shortage of drug supply only occurs for some specialized drugs and rare drugs due to difficulties in supply, and the inability to determine demand due to rare diseases and unpredictable timing and quantity.
For example, antidotes, antivenoms (BAT), anti-snake venom serum. In addition, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Europe has led to a disruption in the global supply chain for some drugs such as Albumin, Globulin (these drugs are in short supply in almost every country).
To ensure drug supply, the Ministry of Health has reported to the Government to submit to the National Assembly Resolution No. 80/2023, which allows eligible drugs to have their circulation validity extended until the end of 2024.
Accordingly, from the beginning of 2023 to now, the Ministry of Health has announced 4 batches with a total of 10,572 drugs (8,204 domestic drugs, 2,143 foreign drugs, 225 vaccines, biological products) to continue using circulation registration certificates until December 31, 2024.
Basically ensure the supply of drugs on the market
In addition, the Ministry of Health has also licensed nearly 3,000 drugs that do not have registration numbers according to the provisions of the Pharmacy Law, valid for 3-5 years. With this newly issued number, there are currently about 22,000 drug registration numbers with circulation visas with about 800 active ingredients of various types.
"Therefore, the drug supply on the market is basically guaranteed," the Deputy Minister of Health affirmed.
Regarding solutions in the coming time, Ms. Huong said that the Ministry of Health has closely coordinated with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to review and propose amendments to a number of contents included in the draft revised Law on Bidding this time to remove difficulties in procurement.
In addition, for particularly rare drugs and drugs with limited supply, the Ministry of Health has reported and proposed to the Government and the Government has agreed to develop a mechanism to ensure rare drugs and drugs with limited supply.
"The Ministry of Health has been urgently implementing plans to establish 3-6 centers to reserve rare drugs and drugs with limited supply. This will also be a fundamental solution to ensure especially rare drugs for use in emergency situations," Ms. Huong emphasized.
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