MoH urges lower pharma imports

HCM CITY — The Ministry of Health is encouraging joint-venture companies in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and high-tech medical equipment to reduce their dependence on imports, according to a report released last week by the ministry.

The ministry said by 2010 the country should be able to make enough medical equipment to meet 60 per cent of the needs of hospitals in the country.

The report was discussed at a meeting in Ha Noi last week to review the last four years of a national programme on medical equipment supply.

The ministry said the government would continue to fund the programme to study the design and production of medical equipment through 2010.

According to the report, 56 manufacturers including private, joint-stock and joint-ventures have produced 621 items of medical equipment, of which only 5 per cent was considered to be of a modern standard.

Most of these were for use in physical therapy and functional rehabilitation, and only a minority are for high-tech electronic equipment like X-ray, Doppler and steriliser machines and are not for use in hospitals or clinics.

The report said that locally made products have fewer technical functions than imported products while their appearance is not as appealing as foreign-made products.

In August, the ministry reported after a countrywide inspection that the 289 hospitals in the country, with a total of 64,000 beds, did not meet equipment requirements. Much of the equipment that did exist was outdated, the ministry said.

The inspection found that many hospitals lacked sufficient equipment for surgery and intensive care units.

"We found that even a 500-bed hospital had only two respirators that are operational, and the surgery lights and surgery beds were out of date," said Nguyen Huy Thin, deputy director of the health ministry’s treatment department.

More seriously, the oxygen supply system for surgical units failed to meet professional technical standards, he said.

More than 70 per cent of the hospitals did not have a CT scanner.

Duong Huy Lieu, director of the ministry’s finance department, said that 35 per cent of the equipment had been used for more than 20 years, and nearly 40 per cent of the equipment had been used from 10 to 20 years.

The items of equipment that are old should no longer be used, Lieu said. — VNS

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