Workers package medicine (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam spends about 3.4 billion USD on medication every year, officials of the Ministry of Health said on March 16.
At a workshop in Hanoi, Deputy Minister of Health Pham Le Tuan said medicine costs each Vietnamese 37.9 USD in 2015, rising by 10 percent from the previous year and almost doubling the 2009 figure.
Pharmaceuticals produced in Vietnam were worth about 1.65 billion USD last year, increasing by 18 percent from 2014 and meeting 48 percent of domestic medicine consumption demand, he added.
At the event, which focused on the importance of quality and innovation in pharmaceutical sector, participants were updated on the medicine quality issue while discussing new points in the draft revised law on pharmaceuticals.
They also shared foreign experience in managing medicine quality, preventing counterfeit medication, and facilitating pharmaceutical inventions.-VNA
