From 19-21 April, 2017, the Thai-German Trilateral Cooperation Programme organized an Appraisal Mission for the Vietnamese-Thai-German Trilateral Cooperation on the subject “Access to high quality and affordable medicines”. This was held at Hanoi University of Pharmacy (HUP) with expertise from professors from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University. This planning workshop aimed to identify the needs of the HUP so as to develop a concept note.

After gaining background information from various presentations, the participants developed an objective tree according to each component. After the first day, representatives from HUP, TICA and GIZ jointly came up with specific objectives, outputs, and main activities of the project for the concept note. The Thai delegates later visited the National Institute of Drug Quality Control (NIDQC) and Bach Mai Hospital.

The NIDQC operates under the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) of Vietnam. Other than research, it engages in network supervision, training, and international cooperation to develop standards and pharmacopoeia. Discussions with the two institutions explored the possibility of collaborating with HUP to build the capacity of pharmaceutical personnel and students in order to meet the need for high-quality personnel in Vietnam.)

On the final day of the appraisal mission, the Thai and German delegates had the opportunity to visit Ha Noi CPC1 Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company (CPC1HN), the largest company in Hanoi producing medicines and food supplements. A second visit was made to the laboratory of HUP before proceeding to the concluding session.

After this workshop, HUP will develop a final concept note by reviewing the draft with other related agencies in order to improve production of high quality and affordable medicines in Vietnam. It was suggested that the focus be on herbal medicines. The final concept note will be considered by the Thai-German Trilateral Steering Committee (TSC) which meets every quarter. If the project is approved, a planning workshop will be organized as the next step.

Did you know?

•  The market share of domestic drug products is below 50 per cent meaning that the people in Vietnam are consuming more expensive imported drugs.
•  Bach Mai is considered one of the largest hospitals in Vietnam. It receives around 150,000 patients per year. There are however, only 20 pharmacists for the entire hospital.
•  The word “Pharmacopoeia” means drug-making. It is a book containing directions for the identification of compound medicines, and published by the authority of a government or medical or pharmaceutical society.