On October 30, the National Assembly discussed in groups the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Planning, the Law on Investment, the Law on Investment under the public-private partnership model and the Law on Bidding.
Speaking, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan emphasized that one of the reasons leading to the shortage of drugs and medical supplies in recent times is related to institutional issues.
The Law on Bidding (amended) has many contents related to the medical field and has been resolved in practice.
Minister Dao Hong Lan said that some National Assembly delegates asked why there were so many changes, but those changes were all positive. Whatever was stuck in practice had to be changed in the spirit of "perfecting the institutions is a breakthrough".
“There are also National Assembly delegates who say that the health sector does not need to bid and can buy whatever it wants. That is not true because we are a state of law, operating within a common legal framework,” Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan emphasized.
Giving specific comments on this revision of the Law on Bidding, Minister Dao Hong Lan informed that the Ministry has worked with localities, hospitals, and medical facilities to review any remaining issues.
In the report of the Minister of Planning and Investment, there is still an issue related to the procurement and bidding of drugs by hospital pharmacies.
Currently, public health facilities have implemented the organization of hospital pharmacies to serve people's drug purchases when the drugs are not on the list of health insurance drugs (HI). People in need can buy them at the hospital pharmacy. This ensures that people buy good quality drugs at the right price.
The head of the health sector informed that the Bidding Law (2023) stipulates that the source to buy these drugs is the legal revenue of the hospital, not from the budget; not from the health insurance fund. But the law also stipulates that bidding must be conducted as the revenue source of the health insurance.
When drafting the Bidding Law (2023), the Ministry of Health also proposed this content but did not receive high consensus. This revision, based on practical assessment, shows that procurement for hospital pharmacies has problems.
The Minister gave an example: “Hospital pharmacies meet urgent hospital requirements, including drugs not listed in the health insurance list. Pharmacies themselves cannot anticipate the diverse needs of patients. Therefore, we have to follow the order of building a bidding plan from the previous year and then deploy it for 4-5 months, which cannot meet the requirements. And this is the reason why there is still a shortage of drugs like in the recent past.”
This draft amendment to the Law on Bidding has included content to resolve the issue of drug procurement by hospital pharmacies to have specific mechanisms to serve the people.
One of the issues that the Ministry of Health is still concerned about is: Hospitals need a lot of things like diapers, milk, buckets, basins... but they have not been adjusted and still have to bid as usual.
“We should have a specific mechanism to resolve the issue synchronously, to avoid the situation where policies have been issued but there are still opinions that they cannot be implemented or are not suitable.
The Drafting Committee is requested to continue researching and finding appropriate solutions to serve the essential needs of patients in hospitals,” the Minister proposed.
