Vietnam Poor Hospital Facilities Drive Patients Abroad

While the competence of Vietnamese doctors is similar to that of regional countries, hospital equipment is considered to be far below par, sending Vietnamese abroad to spend hundreds millions of US dollars each year on treatment.

The issue was discussed at a recent conference held by the ministries of Health, Industry and Trade, Finance, and Science and Technology to discuss national policies on medical equipment.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that the Prime Minister had approved a national policy on medical equipment for 2002-10 back in 1992. The policy stated that in 2005, the domestic medical equipment sector should meet 40 per cent of demand, and that by 2010, 60 per cent of demand.

This target had not been reached, as the majority of medical equipment was still imported, she said. Domestic factories only produced simple equipment such as beds, cabinets and scissors.

Tien said that a lack of capital was one of the major factors hindering the development of this sector. While the Government approved a project to localise production of medical equipment starting in January 2005, no priority policies for enterprises to borrow capital and hire land to expand their workshops were put in place.

Moreover, import taxes for accessories to serve manufacturing, assembly, repair and maintenance of medical equipment did not benefit from any priority policies.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang pointed to many other obstacles, such as domestic enterprises not yet applying standards required in bidding files.

Most customers preferred to buy foreign products, as domestic enterprises have only limited advertisement and market promotion activities, and their products are typically not aesthetically pleasing, according to Quang. Domestic enterprises also tend to offer limited or no guarantees, especially in isolated areas.

Quang noted that foreign suppliers were superior in all of these aspects.

Regarding proposals from enterprises under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said the ministry would co-ordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to list medical equipment that domestic enterprises could produce, what equipment could be localised, and what equipment should be imported.

The ministry also said it would also issue standards following Vietnam's standards system. Such standards would help domestic enterprises ensure their products met hospital demands.

The ministry said it would upgrade and build more centres to certify the quality of medical equipment in Hanoi, the central region and Ho Chi Minh City, aiming to build a national centre to certify medical equipment.

Tien said it would be hard to domestically produce 60 per cent of medical equipment by 2010. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Industry and Trade said they would organise conferences to help domestic manufacturers connect with hospitals.

The Ministry of Health said it would also ask the Government to exempt or reduce import taxes on equipment and accessories that domestic enterprises still cannot make.

Dr Truong Van Viet, director of the Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, said medical equipment was an indicator of the health care competence of a hospital and a country.

He said that recently many hospitals were importing old equipment and backwards technology from foreign countries.

In Hanoi, Phuong Mai Street is home to many shops that sell medical equipment. Many products being sold don't label their origins.

Director of the Hanoi Health Department, Le Anh Tuan, said that medical equipment that did not have labels in Vietnamese or their origins labelled should be disregarded.

"The trading of such products must be strictly supervised and handled. The city Health Department will inspect medical equipment sold in shops," he said. - VNS