Regulatory Reforms
Tilleke & Gibbins / Vietnam
The legal framework for regulatory reforms in Vietnamese Pharma. Prepared in association with Tilleke & Gibbins, a leading law firm in Vietnam, this is an extract from The Pharma Legal Handbook: Vietnam, available to purchase here for GBP 75.
1. Are there proposals for reform or significant change to the healthcare system?
The MOH published a draft version of an amended Law on Medical Examination and Treatment dated 12 October 2019 to collect public opinions. Once adopted, the new law will repeal the current Law on Medical Examination and Treatment No. 40/2009/QH12 dated 23 November 2009.
Among other changes, the draft law provides for a mandatory requirement on Vietnamese language that will be applicable to non-local healthcare practitioners. Under the draft law, foreign and overseas Vietnamese practitioners are required to be fluent in Vietnamese and to use Vietnamese in examination and giving prescriptions. The satisfaction of Vietnamese proficiency must be examined by a medical education institution appointed by the MOH. A practitioner that does not satisfy this requirement must register the language that will be used in their practice and equip themselves with a translator. Such translator, if non-Vietnamese, also needs to satisfy the examination on Vietnamese proficiency hosted by a medical education institution appointed by the MOH.
2. When are they likely to come into force?
The draft Law on Medical Examination and Treatment is scheduled to be submitted to the National Assembly for discussion in 2021.
