Hanoi ensures sufficient medicine stockpiles for Tet 2026
The capital city has rolled out measures to ensure adequate medicine supply in hospitals and a disease control center during Tet holiday.
THE HANOI TIMES — For the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet), Vietnam's biggest national holiday, the Hanoi Department of Health has asked pharmaceutical businesses, as well as public and private hospitals, to ensure an adequate medicine supply and high-quality healthcare services for locals.
The move aims to ensure that emergencies, road accidents and emergency births are given proper care during the nine-day holiday.
The department has directed the 115 Emergency Response Center to have staff and ambulances on standby to respond to out-of-hospital emergencies as soon as possible.
Medicines must also be available to treat common winter and spring diseases, including Covid-19, influenza A, measles, rubella, rotavirus diarrhea, dengue and other respiratory and digestive diseases.
Hospitals and the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC) are asked to develop drug stocking plans and ensure adequate supplies in accordance with the Ministry of Health's guidelines.
The guidance also emphasized the need for health services to remain vigilant against possible epidemics. It is necessary to take timely samples for testing and early diagnosis of pathogens and to provide thorough treatment to prevent the spread of disease.
A woman waits for medicine at a pharmacy in Hanoi. Photo: Pham Hung/The Hanoi Times
Drug manufacturers and importers, as well as other pertinent entities were mandated by the city's health department to guarantee drug quality, set fair prices and work to prevent price increases.
Meanwhile, local authorities will tightly supervise production and trade to detect counterfeit and substandard drugs and those that should not be circulating in the market. Inspectors will be required to impose strict penalties on perpetrators.
CDC Hanoi will be responsible for monitoring potential epidemics and working with the Hanoi Food Safety Management Board to ensure that no food-related incidents occur.
The department has taken measures to ensure that all emergencies during the holiday will be handled in a timely manner. Health clinics in Hanoi must ensure that doctors and other medical staff stay on duty around the clock and that sufficient supplies of medicines and equipment are available.
Hospital managers, specialists, hotline physicians and security personnel should be on call 24 hours per day during the holiday. The names of the medical staff on duty should be posted on the hospital information board.
The department has asked doctors not to refuse or delay any cases. It also asked health workers to pay special attention to those from poor and disadvantaged communities. Furthermore, hospitals will organize Tet celebrations for inpatients.
Hanoi's health sector has drawn up a plan for hospitalization due to accidents, poisoning and mass emergencies that may occur during the Tet holiday, such as stampedes in crowded tourist areas, traffic accidents, fights and injuries caused by firecrackers, explosives or food poisoning.
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The Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV) under the Ministry of Health has issued a directive requesting localities to fully meet medicine demand for medical examination and treatment, particularly in disease prevention and control during the winter-spring season and the Lunar New Year festivals. Accordingly, provincial health departments are requested to direct hospitals and health care facilities to carry out medicine procurement to ensure uninterrupted supply. Medicines must meet quality standards and be sold at reasonable prices, with no sudden price increases allowed. Local authorities must pay particular attention to detecting counterfeit, substandard or unlicensed medicines, as well as acts of hoarding and price manipulation, with strict handling of violations. The DAV has also urged hospitals to proactively place orders early, monitor delivery progress and promptly conduct additional procurement if there is a risk of shortages, ensuring medicines are always available for medical services. Pharmaceutical manufacturers and importers are asked to promptly fulfill orders from medical facilities, refrain from hoarding or price increases during Tet, strictly comply with internal quality control. |
