No shortage of medicine during Tet

The Director of the Drug Administration of Vietnam (Ministry of Health) has just issued a document requesting medical units, drug manufacturing and importing units to ensure adequate supply of drugs to serve the medical examination and treatment needs of the people during the 2015 Lunar New Year and the risk of disease outbreaks in the winter-spring season.

Producing medicine according to GMP-WHO standards at a medicine supplier. Photo: VNA

For the Department of Health of provinces and cities, the Drug Administration requires the Departments to direct their affiliated hospitals to urgently develop and implement drug reserve plans to ensure adequate supply of drugs, absolutely not allowing drug shortages to occur to serve the medical examination and treatment of the people.

The above units need to focus on ensuring adequate supply of medicine for emergency and disease prevention work, especially influenza A/H5N1, hand, foot and mouth disease, dengue fever, measles, rubella, diarrhea caused by Rota virus, and other respiratory and digestive diseases that are at risk of breaking out in the winter-spring season, especially during the Lunar New Year and festival season.

In addition, the Department of Health of provinces and cities directed the Department Inspectorate to coordinate with relevant units to strengthen inspection and examination to detect counterfeit drugs, poor quality drugs, and drugs not permitted for circulation; strengthen management measures to avoid sudden price increases during long holidays and disease outbreaks.

For hospitals under the Ministry, the Drug Administration requires units to implement drug reserve plans to ensure drug supply readiness, avoiding drug shortages for medical examination and treatment for people.

Drug manufacturing, trading and importing units are required to increase supply, develop drug supply plans to serve the needs of medical examination and treatment, and promptly supply enough drugs when receiving orders from medical examination and treatment facilities; Speculation and taking advantage of the Tet holiday to increase drug prices must not occur./.

According to VNA