100% online public services: Cost reduction, increased transparency
MSc Nguyen Thanh Lam - Deputy Director of the Drug Administration of Vietnam (Ministry of Health), said: The Drug Administration of Vietnam has actively participated in completing the legal corridor for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sector. Notably, the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2024 Pharmaceutical Law and Decree No. 163/2025/ND-CP of the Government. These documents have reduced many inappropriate dossier components, gradually eliminated the requirement to submit paper documents, promoted the use of electronic data and allowed the business of drugs and drug ingredients in the form of e-commerce.
In particular, the institutionalization of the concept of "Drug Information System in the National Health Database" is considered an important step forward, creating a legal foundation for modern, unified and interconnected pharmaceutical management.
One of the outstanding results of the digital transformation process is that the Drug Administration of Vietnam has completed and provided 100% of online public services, with 47 administrative procedures, including 37 full-service online public services.
Notably, 24 online public services have been integrated into the National Single Window Portal, serving the field of import and export of drugs, raw materials for medicines and import cosmetics announcement. From 2020 to now, the system has processed nearly 47,000 import and export orders of drugs, raw materials for medicines and more than 300,000 import cosmetics announcement receipts.
Digitizing the entire process helps businesses save significant time, travel costs, and document storage; while improving publicity, transparency, and limiting negativity and harassment in resolving administrative procedures. People and businesses can also easily monitor the progress of document processing in the digital environment.
Forming a national pharmaceutical data ecosystem
In parallel with online public services, the Drug Administration of Vietnam has deployed a database system on drugs connecting and interconnecting drug supply facilities nationwide. The system currently manages more than 99,000 accounts, more than 75 million sales invoices and nearly 9 million warehouse entry and exit slips.
In addition, data on drugs and drug ingredients that are granted circulation registration certificates are also fully updated and publicly available on the online system. Currently, more than 53,000 drug and drug ingredient data have been published, allowing organizations and individuals to conveniently look up and use them in production, business and management activities.
In addition, the Drug Administration of Vietnam also provides many tools to look up specialized information such as drug prices, drug advertisements, lists of establishments meeting GxP standards, lists of foreign production establishments meeting GMP... thereby effectively supporting the management and operation of enterprises.
In the field of cosmetics, the Drug Administration of Vietnam is coordinating the construction of a State management information system for cosmetics, aiming to comprehensively digitize data from publication, circulation, quality inspection to recall, handling violations and after-sales.
This system is expected to help management agencies improve the effectiveness of supervising the cosmetics market, promptly detect and handle violations; and provide transparent information to people and businesses, contributing to protecting consumer rights.
Many challenges in the digital transformation process
According to the Deputy Director of the Drug Administration of Vietnam, digital transformation in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors is a long-term process, requiring large resources in terms of finance, human resources and technology infrastructure. This is a highly specialized field, while new technologies such as AI, Big Data, and Blockchain are developing rapidly, and it is necessary to soon complete a suitable legal framework. In particular, digital transformation can only be successful with the synchronous participation of the entire pharmaceutical value chain.
In the coming period, the Drug Administration of Vietnam will coordinate with relevant units to complete key databases and propose a Project on overall digital transformation of the pharmaceutical sector, in order to build a "System of pharmaceutical information in the National Health Database". This will be an important foundation for modern, unified, and transparent pharmaceutical management, contributing to ensuring national drug security and people's rights.
