Growth Of Private Health Care In Vietnam

Private medical consulting rooms and pharmacies are becoming established in Vietnam, and Vietnam's Health Ministry is considering granting a license for the country's first private hospital, according to the Vietnam Courier.

There are currently 8,101 consulting rooms for western medicine, and 2,295 for traditional Vietnamese medicine. There are, however, problems with unlicensed consulting rooms and pharmacies, and specifically low levels of hygiene and poor quality of treatment at these establishments. They have been found to sell outdated and smuggled medicines, as well as products that have not yet been authorized for sale by the Ministry of Health.

In first-half 1996, 290 of the 755 pharmacies inspected were violating health regulations. Four of the pharmacies were fined and 16 were closed down. Of 869 medical consulting rooms inspected, 316 violated regulations and seven were closed down.