A women’s health center in Da Nang City is doing its clients a disservice, charging higher fees and giving out wrong information, a Thanh Nien investigation has found.

People looking for cervical vaccines Cervarix and Gardasil at the center are asked to conduct two HPV (human papilloma virus) tests, one costing VND250,000 (US$13.55) and the other VND350,000, to identify the extent and type of HPV virus in their bodies.

But according to the producers, the tests are unnecessary because the vaccines are effective in preventing (HPV) types 16, 18, 31 and 45. Types 16 and 18 are generally known as causing about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases. These two, along with 31 are said to be prime risk factors for cervical cancer while 45 is listed among the high-risk types.

The center conducts hepatitis B tests for VND54,000 a person while the Da Nang Preventive Health Center does it for VND40,000 and delivers the results in 15 minutes.

An unnamed employee at the Da Nang Pregnancy Health Center, had only this to explain the difference in prices: “If you like, go there to do the test.”

Most services at the center are VND10,000-20,000 more expensive than at others, and some are even several hundred thousand dongs higher.

For example, a Cervarix shot would cost VND700,000 instead of VND670,000 and a Gardasil shot VND1.3 million instead of VND1.02 million.

Pham Hung Chien, director of Da Nang Health Department, said the department has sought to decentralize health services and any center which meets requirements of staff, equipment and space will be allowed to offer services normally provided by hospitals.

Chien said his unit will inspect all the services at the center this month, besides those given to inpatients, and will announce the results soon.

Reported by Dieu Hien