Many medical stations in Nghe An run out of Covid-19 test kits

Regulations are no longer relevant

One day in early March, Ms. Trang (42 years old) went to Nghi Phu Commune Health Station (Vinh City) to get tested for Covid-19 because she was an F1 case and had some suspected symptoms. However, Ms. Trang's wish was not granted, because the health station no longer had rapid tests. This woman then went to a pharmacy to buy a rapid test and went to the station but was still refused because the health station ran out of protective gear for staff to take samples for testing. Although according to current regulations, F0 and F1 cases when coming to public health facilities are all tested for free.

Not only Ms. Trang, many other F0s being treated at home and F1s in Nghe An province are also in the same situation. Many people also recorded and posted clips on social media expressing their anger about this issue.

Authorities inspect a pharmacy selling test kits. Photo: QA

According to the reporter's records, after the Lunar New Year, at medical facilities, specifically at ward, commune and town health stations, there was a shortage of Covid-19 test kits. When people arrived, they were encouraged by medical staff to buy test kits themselves and the health stations would test them for free. The fact that ward, commune and town health stations did not have test kits to serve and had to pay for testing made many people wonder because previously, documents confirmed that all related costs were free, paid and provided by the budget.

For example, Official Dispatch No. 4620/TTCH-SYT dated September 26 of the Covid-19 Prevention and Control Command Center of Nghe An province on strengthening SARS-CoV-2 screening testing in the new situation. The dispatch clearly requires taking samples for testing in each area, unit, and region to promptly detect F0 cases; as well as encouraging people with abnormal symptoms such as fever, cough, difficulty breathing... to immediately go to the Commune Health Station for free testing.

Primary health care workers are being overworked. Photo: TH

Mr. Nguyen The Tung - Director of Vinh City Medical Center said that this is a common situation nowadays. "Not only Vinh City but also many other localities are facing the same situation. This is one of the biggest shortcomings today", Mr. Tung said and expressed his hope that people would sympathize with the health system.

According to Mr. Tung, most medical stations are currently out of rapid tests and protective gear. “We have completed the bidding documents for a long time, but we have repeatedly called the key suppliers but they did not answer the phone. Now, even if we have money, we cannot buy it. It seems that the businesses do not want to sell to medical units because they only think about profit. If they sell to state agencies, they must go through bidding and the selling price is low. Therefore, they prioritize selling to the market and are not interested in supplying to medical units,” Mr. Tung commented.

Not only that, according to Mr. Tung, even if there is a supply, medical stations do not have enough resources and funds to purchase rapid tests and protective gear to test for free for all F1 and F0 as stipulated. “Currently, if testing is free for F1 and F0 as stipulated, each month Vinh City will spend tens of billions of dong to buy rapid tests. That is not to mention the cost of buying protective gear and other expenses. Doing so, most localities will not have enough funds,” said Mr. Tung.

Sharing the same opinion with Mr. Tung, Mr. Ho Sy Duong - Director of Hoang Mai Town Medical Center said that the regulation that F0 and F1 are tested for free is no longer suitable in the current context, when the number of cases is increasing. The competent authority needs to adjust this regulation soon. In particular, it is possible to reduce the subjects of free testing to F0s who are policy beneficiaries and in difficult circumstances.

Need to stabilize test kit prices soon

A ward leader in Vinh city said that previously, test kits were sponsored by organizations and projects for free to the Department of Health and the Department of Health allocated them to localities based on demand. The second source was for localities to buy them themselves. Now the free sources have been exhausted, and there is no supply from above. The local budget is very limited, there is nothing to buy...

Even if there are test kits on the market, the locality cannot direct the health station to buy them to provide paid services to the people. The price of test kits on the market is unstable, ranging from 40,000-120,000 VND/unit, while according to the circular of the Ministry of Health regulating the price of Covid-19 testing effective from February 21, the maximum price of a rapid Covid-19 test for a single sample is not more than 78,000 VND/test. If you buy them to serve today, tomorrow there may be many inspections and disciplinary actions...

"The most feasible way now is for localities to carry out socialization with the participation of people as well as call on philanthropists to support and assist localities in preventing and fighting the epidemic," he added.

The shortage of test kits is not only happening at ward and commune health stations in Vinh city but also at all ward, commune and town health stations in the province and the whole country. During the working trip of the Provincial People's Committee delegation to Quy Hop, Nghia Dan and Tan Ky districts at the end of February 2022, the above districts also reported this situation. According to local leaders: "Test kits are rare, even if the locality wants to buy them, it cannot be bought."

A representative of the Nghe An Department of Health said that the local supply of test kits is currently extremely difficult. This is a common situation in many localities across the country, the scarce supply makes it impossible for many units with money to buy rapid test kits. For facilities that are qualified to sell test kits, import units will provide them. However, in Nghe An province, there are no import units, nor factories producing this item. Enterprises themselves are not enthusiastic about selling to the state.

There are the following reasons why medical facilities lack test kits:The first,The sudden increase in demand for test kits has caused a temporary shortage in the market. Faced with the increased demand, test kit suppliers have prioritized supplying to the free market – where “cash is in the bank, no hassles”. Compared to supplying to state agencies, which has long had low bidding prices and slow payments.

Monday,The bidding for many medical supplies, including test kits, has now been assigned to the district level and grassroots units. However, after the violations of Viet A Company were announced, many units did not dare to organize bidding because the prescribed price was too low. The reason why the levels and units are "hesitant" is also because the procedures for bidding in a systematic manner require a long time... It must also be said that, after a long time, the budget for epidemic prevention has been exhausted.

Testing kits should soon be included in price stabilization items. Photo: Thanh Chung

Ward, commune and town health stations are seriously lacking test kits, but stores, pharmacies and drugstores are not really in short supply. There are many types of Covid-19 test kits on the market, but prices are chaotic. This makes people who need to use them feel insecure and question the quality of the test kits... After buying one type and not being satisfied with it, people buy another type of test kit. Gradually, there were times when the market ran out of test kits.

Accordingly, recently, with the number of cases continuously increasing, many people are panicking, buying large quantities of kits to stock up, even testing many times a day even though they have no symptoms or epidemiological factors. Many F0 cases are being treated at home, also curious, continuously testing themselves quickly to see the results...

On this issue, health experts also recommend that people should not test when not necessary. This not only causes waste but also complicates the test kit market, affecting the fight against the epidemic.

“Most importantly, it is necessary to soon put Covid-19 test kits on the subsidized and stabilized price list to reduce kit prices and costs for people and businesses. At the same time, it will be easier for medical units to purchase,” added the Director of Vinh City Medical Center.

In a recent meeting with a number of localities, Mr. Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested localities to rationally use resources and materials to fight the epidemic; promote socialization, seek and mobilize the support of organizations and individuals in supporting test kits; strengthen propaganda about the Covid-19 epidemic so that people understand and use test kits correctly and reasonably, avoiding the current situation of wasteful use.