(Chinhphu.vn) - In the 4th session, National Assembly XIV, voters of Thai Nguyen Province proposed the Ministry of Health to grant licenses for many businesses to be vaccinated, to eliminate monopoly business in order to have a healthy competition, increasehigh quality of vaccine supply and service to people in disease prevention.

Regarding this issue, The Ministry of Health responds as follows:

At the current legal documents on pharmaceutical management, there are no regulations restricting the number of vaccine business establishments. However, vaccines are a special product because of the quality, safety and immunity of vaccines that depend greatly on storage conditions. Vaccines should be maintained strictly in cold or deep storage conditions during storage and transport from manufacturers to importers, wholesalers and vaccination facilities.

Therefore, storage warehouses and vaccine transport vehicles require specialized equipment, leading to investment costs of large enterprises. In addition, the majority of people using vaccines in general and service vaccines in Vietnam are healthy children, therefore, the technical requirements related to ensuring the quality of vaccines are emphasized. (For example, the regulation of each batch of vaccine must be verified by the National Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals, which partly increases the business costs of the enterprise).

In addition, vaccine production technology also requires much more research and factory investment costs than conventional drugs. Therefore, the number of vaccine manufacturing companies worldwide is very limited, for example, according to data provided by WHO, up to now, there are only 2 manufacturers of vaccines for 6 diseases in the world (globally). diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, hepatitis B, Hib-induced meningitis, 2 vaccine manufacturers for pneumococcal disease for children aged 6 weeks ... Vaccine supplies worldwide in General and Vietnam in particular are not as diverse as pharmaceutical drugs.

The Ministry of Health has made great efforts in operating to prevent monopoly in vaccine supply. Therefore, in the last 2 years, there is no shortage of monopoly vaccines. The quality of vaccines for service vaccination and the Expanded Immunization Program is also ensured to serve the prevention of people.