Good Pharmacy Practice urged

HCM CITY — The Ministry of Health encourages pharmaceutical companies to set up drugstore chains adopting Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) standards, a health official said.

Deputy Health Minister Cao Minh Quang called it one of four main targets for Viet Nam’s drug retail system by 2010.

Drug companies should invest in building more facilities and researching into new drugs to improve the quality of their products and achieve the GPP standards the ministry set out in January 2007, he said.

Initially, they should be willing to accept a dip in profits since they have to invest large sums of money to set up pharmacies meeting GPP standards, he warned.

They would also face difficulties in acquiring market share since they would only sell drugs on doctors’ prescriptions and compete with non-GPP rivals, he said.

But they would benefit when non-GPP drugstores are forced to close down in 2010, he said.

Besides, he pointed out that the ministry has issued a slew of incentives for companies setting up GPP-standard chains.

These include buying drugs from foreigners and overseas Vietnamese who bring them into Viet Nam and from foreign-invested enterprises, importing and exporting drugs directly, and selling medicines to national health programmes and health insurance.

Already 15 pharmaceutical companies based in Ha Noi, HCM City, Can Tho, and Da Nang, including My Chau, V-Phano, Saphaco, and Eco, have registered to set up the GPP-standard chains.

With the Vietnamese pharmaceuticals market being very promising and attracting foreign investment, these chains would make profits very soon, Quang predicted.

He said 444 of the country’s 9,066 pharmacies meet GPP standards, including 140 attached to hospitals.

In HCM City, the number is 200 out of 3,356.

People buy medicines at a pharmacy in HCM City. The Ministry of Health is encouraging pharmaceutical companies to adopt Good Pharmacy Practice standards. — VNA/VNS Photo The Anh

Pham Khanh Phong Lan, deputy head of the HCM City Department of Health, said the city has its own policies to encourage drugstores to adopt GPP standards.

The department plans to organise free training courses for pharmacists and publicise drugstores that adopt GPP standards.

It will work with the Department of Finance to work out tax breaks for GPP-standard drugstores as well as companies that set up such chains and encourage foreign drug companies to supply to them.

The department would frequently check GPP drugstores to ensure they maintain the standards, she said. — VNS

By vietnamnews