Nghe An: Rectifying the advertising of medical examination and treatment services.

DepartmentMedicalNghe An province has recently issued Official Letter No. 5201/SYT-NVY regarding the advertising of medical examination and treatment services in Nghe An province, addressed to the Nghe An Department of Information and Communications and public and private medical facilities in the province.

Accordingly, in the past period, some medical facilities in the province have not strictly complied with regulations on advertising medical services. Some websites and social media platforms have published content containing inappropriate content.advertisementMedical examination and treatment services... that have not been verified, affecting the rights of people who trust and contact or use these services.

Inspecting a clinic in Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Photo courtesy of Thanh Chung.

To ensure the rights of citizens in accessing medical examination and treatment services in the province, the Department of Health requests the Department of Information and Communications to direct media and press agencies in the province to require the provision of content approval certificates for advertisements of medical examination and treatment services. Absolutely no advertising of medical examination and treatment services should be permitted without content approval from the competent authority (as stipulated in Circular No. 09/2015/TT-BYT dated May 25, 2015 of the Ministry of Health).

Themedical examination and treatment facilitiesBoth public and private healthcare facilities in the province must strictly comply with the regulations on verifying the content of advertisements for medical examination and treatment services as stipulated in Circular No. 09/2015/TT-BYT of the Minister of Health dated May 25, 2015, and the guidelines on procedures for granting certificates of verification for advertising content of medical examination and treatment services. Directors of healthcare facilities in the province are responsible to the Department of Health for the content of advertisements for medical examination and treatment services.

The Inspection Department of the Department of Health, in coordination with the Medical Professional Affairs Department, will conduct a review and establish inspection teams to conduct direct or indirect inspections regarding compliance with regulations on advertising medical examination and treatment services at medical facilities in the province. During the inspection and monitoring process, if medical facilities are found to be non-compliant with current regulations, a report will be drawn up and penalties imposed in accordance with Articles 49 and 56 of Government Decree 38/2021/ND-CP dated March 29, 2021, on administrative penalties in the fields of culture and advertising.