The Ministry of Health has reported on the implementation of policies and laws on the prevention and control of fake drugs and counterfeit foods to the Committee on Culture and Society, 15th National Assembly.
According to the report, the work of preventing and combating smuggling, fraud, fake drugs and fake foods is a key, regular and continuous task of the political system to protect the economy, the rights of consumers and genuine businesses.
The trade and use of fake drugs and fake foods has serious health and economic consequences, affecting people's trust in the health system and national health security.
The report, signed by Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen, stated that countries around the world are facing the problem of fake drugs. Counterfeit drugs not only appear in underdeveloped countries but also in developed countries such as the US or Europe.
In Vietnam, the Ministry of Health has made many efforts to control the quality of drugs and prevent and combat fake drugs. Every year, with nearly 38,000 drug samples collected by units in the health sector at production and business establishments and used according to the risk management principle to check quality.
Thereby, the inspection showed that the rate of substandard drugs and fake drugs has decreased sharply from more than 10% in 1990-1991 to below 2% in recent years (the rate of substandard drugs in 2024 is 0.45%; the rate of counterfeit drugs is below 0.1%; the rate of traditional medicine and medicine violating higher quality than pharmaceutical drugs; no counterfeit drugs have been detected at medical examination and treatment facilities).
However, according to a recent report by the Ministry of Health, the case of the production and trading of counterfeit drugs was discovered and destroyed by the authorities.
The report stated that the crime related to fake drugs was discovered in Vietnam due to a number of reasons such as the high demand for drugs for medical examination and treatment, especially after the COVID-19 epidemic.
At the same time, profits in the production and trading of fake drugs are high; printing and packaging technology, the development of e-commerce.
In particular, e-commerce is also one of the favorable premises for drugs in particular and goods in general to be more counterfeit.
Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said that e-commerce and social networks are the main channels for the consumption of fake drugs. In particular, taking advantage of the psychology of consumers who want to buy cheap drugs and self-treat.
Currently, the above situation still faces some limitations and difficulties such as legal documents not clearly defining management responsibilities for subjects selling drugs via social networks.
Some documents sanctioning administrative violations for the production and trading of counterfeit goods and goods of unknown origin are still low and not enough to deter.
In particular, the amendment of legal documents has not kept up with reality. The habit of arbitrarily buying drugs through word of mouth or the internet of a part of the population creates conditions for the circulation of fake drugs.
At yesterday's explanation session on the implementation of policies and laws on fake drugs and fake foods (August 21), Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Society Nguyen Dac Vinh emphasized the need to ensure the principle of strict pre-inspection, strengthen and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of post-inspection work, perfect the system of standards and technical regulations for this group of goods; sanctions must ensure deterrence.
Mr. Nguyen Dac Vinh suggested that the Ministry of Health coordinate with ministries to effectively implement regulations, promptly grasp difficulties and obstacles to amend, supplement, and continue to improve, especially new regulations on pharmacy chains, drug and food trading via e-commerce.
