Hanoi (VNS/VNA) -Domestically-made drugs have met nearly half the demand of Vietnamese people intreatment and prevention of diseases, while the country has successfullyproduced 12 out of 13 types of vaccines used nationwide.

These were some of the positive signs for the Vietnamese pharmaceuticalindustry announced at a meeting held late last week to review the results ofthe health ministry’s ‘Vietnamese people prioritise Vietnam-madepharmaceuticals’ programme, which aims at reducing reliance on foreign drugsand boosting domestic production.

Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong said in the last 10 years, therehas been a marked change of mindset among consumers, businesses and healthofficials, with domestically-produced medications increasingly appreciated fortheir quality and more affordable prices compared to foreign counterparts.

According to the Ministry of Health’s report, Vietnam currently has fourvaccine producers, with a capacity of 30 million doses for the entire country.

There are 198 pharmaceutical manufacturers that have obtained World HealthOrganisation (WHO) Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification, while 11plants have been built and invested under the stringent standards found in manyadvanced countries like the US, Japan or the European Union (EU).

As many as 652 medication products produced in Vietnam has been recognised aspossessing the same pharmaceutical properties of generic and designer drugs,the report said.

In 2018, Vietnamese medications accounted for 65.53 percent of total medicationuse in provincial-level and district-level hospitals, with half of theprovinces and cities in the country recording more than 50 percent ofVietnamese drugs used.

The south-central province of Phu Yen, with 87 percent in 2018, leads thecountry in terms of using domestically-made medicines, followed by Quang Binh,Tuyen Quang, Kon Tum and Thua Thien-Hue with reported ratios of between 70-76percent.

For many central-level hospitals in major cities of Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoihowever, the story is a little different.

While the general trend looks positive with incremental increases year-on-yearfrom 2015, hospitals directly under the health ministry’s management – alsousually the largest and most reputable in the country like Bach Mai,Vietnam-Germany Hospital or the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynaecology– still reported an average rate of below 10 percent of domestic drugs used, interms of monetary value, according to health ministry.

Explaining the low rate, Cuong said that these hospitals are considered the‘highest level’ hospitals, receiving both patients from the major city they arebased in and from other provinces or patients which local hospitals are notcapable of treating, so the drugs used here are highly specialised – forexample, those for heart diseases, cancer drugs, anti-rejection medicines –that domestic companies have not been able to make.

However, he noted that there remains a significant portion of Vietnamese – inthe general public and among health officials themselves – who are not totallyconvinced of Vietnam-made drugs, especially generic ones.

Given the Government’s policy to encourage State hospitals’ financialautonomies, the competition for consumers’ satisfaction might lead tohospitals’ catering to Vietnamese people’s favouritism towards foreign-mademedications, Cuong said.

In order to change more people’s mindset, Cuong said that the health sectorwould need to seriously step up its efforts in information campaigns acrossvarious formats – including talk shows or radio and television programmes,scientific conferences, and advertisements – to advocate the use ofdomestically-produced drugs to a wider population.

The Ministry of Health has also recently launched the second edition of the‘Vietnam Pharmaceutical Star’ programme to select the best, affordable medicalproducts to promote.

It is also considering putting the ratio of Vietnam-made drug use as one of thecriteria in the annual assessment of hospitals’ quality, as well as tighteningthe management over pharmacists’ prescriptions of needlessly expensiveforeign-made products while Vietnamese alternatives are available.-VNS/VNA