In 2012, the Department continued to implement the subsidized program for essential medicines to be made available at medical centers and ordered physicians to prescribe domestically-made drugs and tablets.
The Department and district people’s committees asked clinics to support the program. By February 2013, medical facilities in 21 districts had adopted the program.
The Department also set up 2,124 pharmacies to distribute subsidized drugs, including at 1,643 private pharmaceutical stores, 106 pharmacies in hospitals, and by 275 agents representing pharmaceutical companies.
The stores will have banners and price index displayed clearly for consumers. So far, pharmacies have reported a month-by-month turnover increase of 85 subsidized drugs.
Pham Khanh Phong Lan, Deputy Head of the Department, said 2012 was the second year that the program was implemented and the number of pharmacy participants also increased substantially. Medical staff awareness has been raised to focus more on prescribing subsidized drugs to reduce financial burden on patients.
The program has contributed a great deal to controlling inflation and stabilizing the macro economy in the country.
Source: Vietnamnet
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