Viet Nam News

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health has announced the establishment of the National Centralised Drug Procurement Centre (NCDPC) at a ceremony on Friday in Hà Nội.

The centre under the health ministry will assume responsibility of organising bidding for pharmaceutical products procurement following the national list of centralised procurement drugs promulgated by the health ministry.

The centre will also organise price negotiation for the drugs on the list in accordance with the law.

Speaking at the event, Health Minister Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến said NCDPC was the country’s first national centralised procurement centre, aimed at handling current shortcomings in the pharmaceutical product bidding process and drug price management in the country.

From now on, drug bidding will be conducted at three levels -- central, provincial levels and State-run facilities -- on the basis of the new mechanism and under the management of the new centre. This will contribute to effective utilisation of health insurance funds for medical check-ups and treatment, enhancing fund balancing capability and ensuring the rights of patients with health insurance, according to Tiến.

In 2016, Việt Nam had 56 localities undertaking centralised drug bidding procurement, three localities employing representative bidding and four localities implementing single bidding. There were a total of 119 drug bidding councils across the country.

On the same day, the health ministry and the Việt Nam Medical Association signed a joint co-operation agreement under which the two sides will work together in healthcare education and communication, legal and law document development and supervision, State management of preventive medicine, health checkup and treatment. — VNS