Health ministry under scrutiny (Illustrative image. Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) –
The Government Inspectorate of Vietnam on September 21 announced that it will
launch a special inspection of the Ministry of Health (MOH), following
revelations of fraud within the ministry’s pharmaceutical licensing process.
The inspection will scrutinise the MoH’s implementation of decrees relating to
internal accountability mechanisms. The ministry, like other Government
agencies, is required to discover and properly punish and misconduct by its
officials. The recent VN Pharma controversy, in which the company was licensed
to provide fraudulent drugs, could indicate inadequate oversight within the
MoH.
The inspection move came after Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc gave the green
light to the decision, said deputy chief of the Government Inspectorate Dang Cong
Huan.
“It’s not a random inspection, it’s a planned movement,” he added.
The inspection is scheduled to last for 70 days, excluding holidays and days
off, the inspectorate agency said.
The inspection team will have 13 members, led by Phan Thang Long, senior inspector
and deputy head of the inspectorate agency’s Department for Socio-Cultural
Inspection.
Nguyen Minh Man, acting head of the department, was assigned to supervise and
submit proposals from the inspection team to Chief Inspector of the Government
Inspectorate Phan Van Sau.
Huan ordered the health ministry to cooperate with the inspection team and
actively provide necessary information to serve the inspection activities.
In response to the order, Deputy Ministry of Health Truong Quoc Cuong said the
ministry would closely cooperate with the inspection team and provide all
required information for the inspection.
In another movement, a representative of the Government Inspectorate talked
with local media that next week the agency would set up another team to inspect
VN Pharma’s licence to import seven drugs manufactured by Helix Pharmaceuticals
Inc of Canada and the company’s registration papers for drug circulation,
following the Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s order.
Early this month, the PM asked the agency to inspect the case and send him a
report before December 31.-VNA