Vietnam’s medicine prices are not 5-40 times higher than the world’s average, but instead are lower than those of many countries, reported Vietnam Drug Administration Chief Truong Quoc Cuong.

Vietnam’s medicine prices are not 5-40 times higher than the world’s average, but instead are lower than those of many countries, reported Vietnam Drug Administration Chief Truong Quoc Cuong.

On the sideline of a conference on health insurance on June 24 in Hanoi, a Vietnamese analyst remarked that a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) survey of seven popular medicines shows that the prices in Vietnam are 5-40 times higher than the world’s average.

Since then, the Vietnam Drug Administration countered the claim, stating that this information is inaccurate. The data was quoted from a research work by Nguyen Tuan Anh in 2004-2005, using research methodology of WHO/HAI (Health Action International) not the WHO. Ang compared prices in Vietnam with the International Reference Price (IRP), not with the world’s average. To compare drug prices between countries and regions, researchers divide the prices of surveyed medicines to the IRP to come up with the MRP (maximum retail price).

The MRP at hospitals in Vietnam is 7.53 while it is 11.95 for countries in the western Pacific region, making Vietnam’s medicine prices much lower than in other countries.

Source: VNE