ASEAN meeting discusses role of traditional medicine

HA NOI — Officials are discussing ways to integrate herbal treatments into national health care at the second ASEAN Traditional Medicine Conference, which opened yesterday in Ha Noi.

The event is organised by the Vietnamese Health Ministry.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said the Government was determined to promote traditional medicine, which he said was the right direction for health care in ASEAN to move.

"Over 60 years, Viet Nam has been patiently implementing this move, gradually integrating traditional medicine into the health system to protect the nation's inhabitants," Nhan said.

"Developing and applying traditional medicine and herbal cures into health care and protection will be the main focus of ASEAN countries."

Surin Pitsuwan, the ASEAN secretary general, also called for a concerted action by governments, interested parties and health professionals to promote traditional medicine.

In some Asian and African countries, 80 per cent of the population depend on traditional medicine for primary health care. The provision of safe and effective traditional medicine could be a critical tool for increasing overall access to health care, Pitsuwan said.

During the three-day event, delegations will review the results of the first health care conference in Bangkok in 2009. They will also discuss international health issues, such as human resources development in traditional medicine, modernising health care, production and application of herbal medicines.

Since 2007, the Nippon Foundation and the World Health Organisation have been jointly organising a congress on traditional medicine.

In Mongolia, health care medical kits are given to nomadic herders. Visits to medical practitioners fell by 45 per cent as a result of the first aid boxes. Currently, 15,000 Mongolian households use the kits.

The fact demonstrated that the use of traditional medicines could help resolve the problems of cost and access to medical care, delegates heard.

The Ha Noi Joint Declaration will be adopted by delegations at the end of the conference tomorrow.

According to the Health Ministry, Viet Nam has 61 traditional medicine hospitals, while 90 per cent of all modern hospitals have a herbal health care department or unit. Meanwhile, more than 70 per cent of all commune health stations offer traditional medicine. About 30 per cent of all patients examined annually are treated with traditional remedies or a combination of traditional and mainstream health care. — VNS

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Officials issue dengue warning

HA NOI — The health ministry has warned residents to take measures to prevent contracting dengue fever during the next two months.

Deputy head of the ministry's Preventive Medicine Department Dr Nguyen Van Binh warned people in the country's flood-hit central region to take extra precautions, including exterminating mosquitoes, maintaining a hygienic environment and covering water jars.

The ministry reported that there had been more than 78,000 dengue fever cases so far this year, including 59 deaths. Last year there were four reported deaths that were caused by the disease.

More than 21,600 cases have been documented in the country's central region, a year-on-year increase of 167.9 per cent.

An average of 400 dengue fever cases are reported each week in HCM City.

Director of HCM City Pasteur Institute Tran Ngoc Huu said the wet season has created favourable living conditions for mosquitoes to breed.

Nearly half of the city's 322 communes and wards have experienced dengue fever outbreaks during the past three months.

Dr Binh said all four virus types that cause the disease had been found in the country.

The doctor said that anyone could contract dengue fever and the disease could cause serious side effects, including internal bleeding, vomiting blood or brain haemorrhages and even death without prompt treatment.

An area is designated as a dengue fever epidemic zone if two residents contract the disease within 14 days and if mosquitoes are discovered carrying the dengue virus, according to the health ministry. — VNS

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Pharmacies slow to achieve good practice standard

As the year-end deadline for application of Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) standards nears, only one-fourth of the pharmacies in the city have achieved it.

For the last three years since the Health Ministry issued its decision (No 11/2007/QD-BYT), HCM City has taken several steps to implement it, but so far just 927 of 3,667 medical establishments have succeeded in applying the GPP standards.

The 927 establishments comprise 91 hospitals and 836 residential pharmacies.

"The main reasons for the slow pace is a shortage of professionals in the health sector to guide, train and conduct checks," said Dr Pham Khanh Phong Lan, deputy director of the municipal Health Department.

She told the Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper that three years was not long enough to make a full assessment, but the application of GPP had started changing the quality of pharmacy system.

"At first, many people doubted the necessity of the GPP, but after three years, there is an important change in awareness. People accept that it is a must for the industry," she said.

In promoting GPP application, the city's health sector focused first on pharmacies in hospitals and enterprises to ensure quality and price of essential medicines.

At present, the department is focusing on firms engaged in wholesale and retail distribution of drugs.

In 2009, there were 752 pharmacies found violating regulations, including 20 that had the GPP certification.

"GPP is the starting point for managing the pharmacy system and regular investigation is the best way to maintain quality," Lan said.

After January 1, 2011, pharmacies that haven't met GPP requirements would be closed or forced to curtail their operations depending on the final decision from the Health Ministry, she said./.

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Health Ministry accused of wasting money on Tamiflu

Medical workers in the central province of Nghe An's Friendship Hospital. The Health Ministry alledgedly wasted public money buying Tamiflu in 2005 at double the market rate. – VNA/VNS Photo Huu Oai

HA NOI — The Government Inspectorate has accused the Ministry of Health of wasting money when it purchased Tamiflu in 2005 at double the market rate.

In a bid to contain an avian flu outbreak between 2003 and 2005, which saw 91 people come down with the lethal disease, the ministry authorised the purchase of 30 million Tamiflu pills, which potentially could treat 3 million patients, according to reports.

The drug was bought from an Indian supplier in 2005 at a cost of US$18,000 per kg.

The ministry, it is alleged, could have bought Tamiflu from Roche for $9,000 per kilo.

In its defence, the ministry said Roche could only deliver the drug in August 2006, while it was determined that Tamiflu was needed in June 2006 to combat an anticipated flu epidemic.

The Government Inspectorate also stated that if the drug had been purchased from Roche, it would have had a shelf life of 10 years, where as the Tamiflu bought from India had an expiry date of three years.

The Government spent VND562 billion ($28 million) buying 10 million pills in 2006.

The Government Inspectorate also said the ministry had not submitted its decision to purchase the drug from four Indian firms to the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister for approval.

The Inspectorate accused the then health minister, Tran Thi Trung Chien, the head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Management and the Department of Planning and Finance of irresponsibility. The Inspectorate said the matter should be further investigated.

Chien has staunchly defended her position and said there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

She said her decision had been sanctioned by the ministries of finance, health, national defence and foreign affairs.

She also said it was simply a matter of poor economics. — VNS

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