After the COVID-19 pandemic, people increasingly prioritize convenience, transparency and safety in accessing drugs and health care products. At the Online Discussion with the theme: "Online drug sales management - Opportunities and challenges" organized by Lao Dong Newspaper on April 9, many issues surrounding online drug sales management were mentioned.
Many risks for people when buying through social networking sites
According to a survey by Lao Dong reporters, currently speaking about buying drugs online, people mainly buy drugs through e-commerce markets where sellers push drugs up for sale, through Facebook, Zalo, Tik Tok... like buying other common consumer products. Such drugs purchased online are not guaranteed in terms of quality, origin and safety for users.
Sharing about this issue, Pharmaceutical Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hai - FPT Long Chau Pharmacy & Vaccination System said: "When the state licenses a business, it must have an electronic application, on sales websites, etc., then those pharmacies are allowed to sell. When people buy on general e-commerce sites like that, the origin is unclear. People can easily buy counterfeit and fake goods. People are also not clearly advised about drugs, which can lead to money loss, which is not in line with their desired needs".
Pharmacer Hai also shared that there is currently a rampant sale of support products, too much truth about the benefits of products, this is also one of the things that makes people overwhelmed, not knowing which drugs are, which functional foods are. They bought them back ineffectively.
Not only that, according to Ms. Hai, in Vietnam, buying prescription drugs without a prescription is also one of the problems. "Customers do not necessarily have prescriptions. Sometimes they go to the pharmacy and don't take a prescription. It is also possible that the prescription has been prescribed to customers for a long time. When they show signs of illness, they often take old prescriptions to buy medicine. This is a common problem for all pharmacies" - Ms. Hai said.
Not every website, not everyone is allowed to sell drugs online
Regarding this issue, Mr. Phan Cong Chien - Head of the Department of Drug Business Management - Department of Drug Administration - Ministry of Health said: Currently, goods of unknown origin are quite popular on e-commerce platforms, and drugs are no exception.
Therefore, the Law only allows, the law only allows, and only sells e-commerce drugs through permitted platforms including: Sales websites, sales applications, and legal e-commerce platforms. Social networks today do not have the function of selling goods online, or have the function of placing orders that are not legal.
According to Mr. Chien, currently, e-commerce business, also known as online sales, is an inevitable trend in the current digital economy and digital transformation. Like other goods, in addition to convenience, benefits, as well as relatively broad and transparent information about online sales, there are also certain risks.
For drugs, most importantly, it is still necessary to ensure the origin, quality assurance, and must be consulted properly to ensure safety and efficiency when used. Therefore, in order to overcome the weaknesses as well as multiply the strengths of the form of e -commerce business, the health sector also actively proposed and the National Assembly also agreed to be one of the contents approved in the 44 Population Law and the Pharmacy Law takes effect from October to.
More importantly, with drugs, to minimize the risks in terms of origin and quality.
Sharing about current regulations on online drug sales, Mr. Phan Cong Chien said: Pharmacy Law No. 44 has been issued and is about to take effect, in which the content we are interested in today is e-commerce for drug products. Pharmacy Law No. 44 clearly stipulates that pharmaceutical establishments selling on e-commerce must first of all be an existing business establishment, meeting current regulations on pharmaceutical business.
For example, for drug retail, it is necessary to meet the standards required for a pharmacy, at the same time, the person in charge of the expertise must be suitable for the form of drug retail. In addition, there must be a system of processes to ensure the transportation of goods, instructions on the use of drugs, etc.
The Pharmacy Law, which has such clear regulations for e-commerce of drugs, has therefore been discussed carefully and enthusiastically, attracting the attention of many parliamentary delegates. With the Law amending and supplementing a number of regulations, currently, retail sales of non-prescription drugs, in cases of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, will be allowed to sell even prescription drugs.
The law also stipulates that not every website and not everyone is allowed to sell drugs online. E-commerce for drugs is only applied in 1 of 3 forms: Sales website; App; e-commerce platform. These forms must have ordering functions, not pure online sales.
At the same time, assigning the Government to detail the Decree, in order to create a transparent publicity for the necessary information when selling goods on e -commerce, the National Assembly also assigns the Minister of Health to stipulate by details of how to guide the use of drugs, how to transport drugs, determine whether the buyer has the right subjects who have ordered or not, ... all other factors. These are specialized regulations on pharmacy. In addition, for all e -commerce business establishments, they must meet the current regulations on e -commerce business.
