Implementing Directive No. 28/CD-TTg dated April 1st, 2026, of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Health has issued guidelines requiring relevant units to urgently implement measures to manage and regulate prices in a drastic and synchronized manner. This is a key task to maintain the stability of the healthcare market and optimize community healthcare costs.
Requirement for public listing and transparency of service price information
For medical examination and treatment facilities under the Ministry of Health and other Ministries and sectors, the top priority is to publicly, fully, and clearly list the prices of medical examination and treatment services, medicine prices, and various medical equipment in accordance with current regulations. The listing must ensure visual clarity and accessibility for patients and their families, and must be updated promptly whenever there is any price change.
Along with publicizing prices, units need to pay special attention to the procurement of medicines and medical equipment. This process must strictly comply with the legal regulations on bidding, ensuring the principles of healthy competition, openness, and transparency. During the contractor selection process, units must not only rely on the price factor but also comprehensively evaluate quality, origin, and suitability with the actual professional needs of the medical facility.
Proactive supply planning and inventory management
To cope with the risks of supply disruption, the Ministry of Health requires medical facilities to regularly review and evaluate the usage and reserve capacity at their units. Facilities must proactively coordinate closely with suppliers to develop contingency plans, ensuring no local shortage of medicines and medical equipment occurs due to objective reasons. For retail pharmacies operating within hospital premises, strict compliance with regulations on retail surplus and retail prices is mandatory to prevent profiteering.
Enhancing the role of local management and inspection
The People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities play a core role in directing the Departments of Health and functional agencies to implement price stabilization measures in their localities. Tracking and monitoring the price trends of medicines and the supply situation must be conducted regularly. Localities need to proactively plan procurement and allocate resources to ensure all citizens have access to medical services and essential medicines at reasonable prices.
Inspection and examination of compliance with legal regulations on pharmacy and pricing must be strengthened. Violations such as not listing prices, selling at higher than listed prices, or trading goods of unknown origin will be strictly penalized in accordance with the law. Besides, the application of information technology in management, connecting medicine supply facilities is a key solution to control origins and price fluctuations most effectively.
Responsibilities of medical production and business facilities
Facilities manufacturing, exporting, importing, and trading medicines and medical equipment need to uphold their sense of responsibility to the community. Units must strictly comply with regulations on price declaration on the Ministry of Health’s electronic portal and strictly prohibit all acts of speculation and hoarding that cause market instability. In case input costs rise, businesses need to proactively review and optimize production and business processes to reduce costs, keeping selling prices stable within their allowable capacity.
Building reserve plans and diversifying sources of raw materials is necessary to ensure the continuous operation of the supply chain, especially for emergency medicines and essential medicines. The Ministry of Health emphasizes that smooth coordination between management agencies and business units will be the decisive factor in stabilizing the healthcare market in this challenging period.
Center for Support & Continuous Training – According to the Vietnam Ministry of Health