National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ speaks at the meeting. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — The amendment for the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment is expected to be submitted for approval at the next National Assembly (NA) meeting, said NA Chairman Vương Đình Huệ yesterday. 

Speaking at the 18th meeting session of the NA Standing Committee, the top legislator gave high regard to the efforts of the units who drafted and evaluated the amendment, saying that this document has been improved in response to feedback. 

However, the regulations on the medical license needed further discussion in terms of terminology. 

The NA chairman's suggestion is that each medical practitioner shall be granted only one license, which is valid for five years. The same duration is applied for license re-issuance and extension. 

On the capacity evaluation for medical examination and treatment by the National Medical Council, NA chairman Huệ said that the law must specify the council’s legal status, operation model and establishment. 

He also raised the question of how international license applies in Việt Nam, and highlighted regulations on license suspension and revocation. 

On the quality assessment of medical facilities, the legislator suggested referring to education quality evaluation, noting that an inspection agency is required for this matter. 

Regarding finances, NA chairman Huệ proposed revising Article 118 of the amendment, which should aim at complete financial autonomy, which takes into account recurrent expenditures, investment and organisational apparatus in accordance with the laws. 

He added that facilities that have full financial autonomy must conduct accounting, auditing and making public financial statements per regulations. 

Regarding medical examination and treatment service pricing, NA chairman Huệ suggested focusing on major issues, such as the regulations on the intangible values of the brand. 

He also said that it is necessary to regulate the elements in this pricing, with a sufficient roadmap issued by the government or the health ministry of insured medical services. 

Reporting on the implementation of Resolution No 30/2021/QH15 by the 15th tenure NA, the NA Committee on Social Affairs said that the document has had a positive impact on healthcare for the people, socio-economic stability and national defence - security during and after the pandemic. 

The validity of the resolution’s clause 3, which concerned control and preventive measures during the pandemic, will end on December 31, 2022 according to the document’s provisions. 

While acknowledging that shortcomings persisted, the NA Standing Committee gave high regard to the collective efforts in the fight against COVID-19 in the past two years. 

The NA Committee for Social Affairs also agreed to the proposal to continue the use of registration papers or medicine and of medicinal ingredients, the validity of which would expire on January 1, 2023 and is not yet extended according to the Law on Pharmacy.

This approval is to prevent a disruption in the medicine supply chain and a negative impact on the public’s healthcare. 

However, this is only a temporary solution to address the backlog of extension dossiers for medicines, said the committee. A thorough assessment is required to address the root cause and prevent the situation to occur again in the future. — VNS