VietNamNet Bridge – Many drugstores at large hospitals have not yet applied the Good Pharmacy Practices (GPP), let alone private pharmacies, although the deadline is only one week away, said HCMC health officials.

Under the ministry’s requirements, all drugstores must operate in modern facilities, only sell drugs with known origin, employ qualified pharmacists and provide drug consultations. However, even in HCMC where the pharmaceutical market is more developed, the standard has not been attended to by drugstores, said Pham Khanh Phong Lan, deputy director of HCMC’s Department of Health.

She told the Daily that the GPP implementation in hospitals would fall behind the ministry’s deadline given the current progress.

“Up to this month, 52 hospital-based drugstores in HCMC have been completing procedures to apply the GPP plus about 10 district-level hospitals,” she said. Of this figure, only 30 drugstores have successfully deployed the GPP standard

According to the Department of Health, there are over 60 hospital-based drugstores and 4,066 retailing drug shops in the city.

“Thus, the number of stores having implemented the standard is small compared to the huge retailing market,” Lan added.

Of the major hindrances, Lan said drugstores are facing with difficulties staffing a qualified pharmacist due to the low number of pharmacists available.

The HCMC Department of Health reports that the city currently has 3,654 pharmacists, or a ratio of 4.5 pharmacists per 1,000 residents. Along with the lack of qualified pharmacist, the GPP implementation also meets financial hardship as hospitals and retailers do not have enough capital for investment in facilities as required.

Another problem in conformity is the illegal trading activity at many drugstores.

The deputy director of the city’s Department of Health said that many private hospitals have opened drugstores without registration with the Department of Health, while many others even refuse to register GPP implementation so that they can continue to sell medicine at higher prices than regulated.

Like HCMC, Hanoi is facing many barriers in the GPP implementation.

Le Anh Tuan, director of Hanoi’s Department of Health, said that the number of drugstores in the capital city with GPP certificates now accounted for a mere 0.6% of the total number, and with the speed of 10-12 drugstores obtaining the certificate each month, it would take quite a long time for the department to complete the task.

“Thus, it is impossible to meet the deadline which the Ministry of Health has required,” he said.

Tuan explained that many drugstores did not want to apply the standard because of high investment, high requirement of qualified pharmacists and other strict criteria.

“In addition, local customers prefer to purchase drugs without doctors’ prescription as required under GPP to save cost and time. It is difficult to kick the habit,” he said.

(Source: SGT)