The Ministry of Health is seeking opinions on the draft Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 26/2025/TT-BYT regulating prescriptions and prescriptions for pharmaceuticals and biological products in outpatient treatment at medical examination and treatment facilities.
According to Circular 26/2025/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health, the list of diseases and disease groups subject to outpatient prescriptions for more than 30 days includes 252 diseases and disease groups belonging to 16 groups.
The list includes many common chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), anxiety disorders, depression; and many other diseases such as chronic hepatitis B virus, HIV/AIDS, hypothyroidism, pituitary gland failure, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, dementia, Thalassemia and some gynecological diseases in adolescence such as menorrhagia in puberty.
For diseases on the list to be applied for outpatient prescriptions for more than 30 days, the prescriber decides the number of days of use of each drug in the prescription based on the clinical condition and stability of the patient, with the number of days of use of each drug not exceeding 90 days.
This is a noteworthy new point compared to previous regulations, when some diseases in this group have a maximum limit for outpatient prescriptions within 30 days.
According to the draft Circular amending Circular 26, the list of diseases and groups of diseases subject to outpatient prescriptions for more than 30 days is proposed to be expanded compared to the current list.
The current list includes 252 diseases and disease groups. The Ministry of Health proposes to increase the list to 372, an increase of 120 diseases and disease groups.
Notably, the draft adds 46 diseases and groups of diseases belonging to the circulatory system. Among these, there are many cardiovascular and blood vessel diseases such as congenital defects of the heart wall, autologous artery derivation, congenital defects of the mitral valve and aorta, varicose veins of the lower extremities, atherosclerosis, heart failure, chronic venous insufficiency, heart valve regurgitation and stenosis, varicose veins and venous thrombosis...
The list of skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases is also proposed to be significantly expanded, from 19 to 53 diseases, disease groups, an increase of 34.
The draft adds many diseases such as skin-to-skin lupus erythematosus, skin-to-lung fungus, nail fungus, patchy hair loss, red acne, acne, pyoderma...
The list also proposes to add some other skin diseases and lesions such as dark spots, moles, keloid scars, livedo-type vascular inflammation, skin capillary inflammation, congenital ichthyosis, skin diseases due to genetic light sensitivity...
In the group of neoplasmic tumors, the list also proposes to add 10 diseases, disease groups such as lymphoma, multiple myeloma and cell-to-cell tumors, chronic lymphoma, acute lymphoma under maintenance treatment, acute myeloma under maintenance treatment, myelodysplasia and myeloproliferation...
In the respiratory disease group, the draft adds some diseases such as allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, and laryngeal scarring.
Prescribe a maximum of 90 days but not by default
In the urinary - genital group, the new list is expected to supplement lupus nephritis, endometriosis, menopause and menopausal-related disorders, benign prostate hypertrophy, some benign prostate diseases and bladder disorders.
Some non-cancer hemorrological diseases are also added to the list, including immunoglobin reduction, iron deficiency anemia, nutritional anemia and vitamin B12 deficiency anemia.
In the endocrine and metabolic groups, the new list is expected to supplement ischemic thyroiditis, diabetes, post-operative or interventional hypothyroidism, dyslipidemia, Turner's syndrome, and pre-diabetes.
Some other diseases also appear in the suggested list such as chronic hepatitis C, neurasthenia, tubular sclerosis, and congenital glaucoma.
