THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH
Circular No. 19/2018/TT-BYT dated August 30, 2018 of the Ministry of Health on introducing list of essential medicines
Pursuant to the Law on Pharmacy No. 105/2016/QH13 dated April 6, 2016;
Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 75/2017/ND-CP dated June 20, 2017 on defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Health;
Upon the request of the Director of the Traditional Medicine Administration of Vietnam and the Director of the Drug Administration of Vietnam;
The Minister of Health hereby promulgates the Circular that introduces the list of essential medicines.
Article 1. Scope of adjustment
This Circular prescribes the principles for developing and criteria for selecting essential medicines, including chemical medicines, vaccines, biologicals, traditional medicines and herbal medicines; the list of essential medicines; use of the list of essential medicines and task performance responsibilities.
Article 2. Principles for developing and criteria for selecting medicines appearing on the list of essential medicines
1. Principles for developing the list of essential medicines:
a] The list must be developed on the basis of the criteria for selection of medicines prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article, instructions for diagnosis and treatment as well as technical and professional procedures promulgated by the Minister of Health; must inherit the list of essential medicines of Vietnam [sixth edition] and consult the list of essential medicines of the World Health Organization;
b] The list must comply with the policies and laws on medicines, conform with actual demands and capabilities of supplying medicines in Vietnam;
c] Naming of medicines on the list of essential medicines shall be subject to the following regulations:
- Use of the given names of medicines shall not be accepted;
- Chemical medicines and biologicals shall be classified by the common international names of active ingredients or active compounds used in the composition of medicines;
- Vaccines shall be classified by their types or ingredient names [for instance, Hepatitis B vaccine];
- Traditional medicinal products shall be classified by herbal ingredient names including common Vietnamese names and scientific names. Vietnamese names of herbal ingredients may vary but their scientific names must be the same;
- Herbal medicines and traditional medicines [except traditional medicinal ingredients] shall be classified by the Vietnamese name of each herbal ingredient or medicinal ingredient used in the same medicinal formula. If Vietnamese names of herbal ingredients or medicinal ingredients vary, the scientific names of herbal ingredients shall be preferred.
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