HCMC – The Ministry of Health has extended the expiry dates of the circulation registration certificates for 133 drugs by three or five years to ease the shortage of medicines facing the country.
These locally-produced drugs are mainly used to treat respiratory, digestive and stomach diseases, according to a recent announcement released by the ministry’s Drug Administration of Vietnam.
This is the third time the ministry has extended the expiration dates on the circulation registration certificates of drugs this year. As of August 3, the expiry dates of the certificates of some 10,000 pharmaceutical products had been extended.
The ministry ordered local drugmakers to produce pharmaceutical products in line with the documents and dossiers registered with the ministry and ensure the progress and effectiveness of drugs during their production process.
Medicine circulation registration is aimed at ensuring drugs are circulated in line with regulations and used safely and effectively. If the certificates of circulation registration expire, firms must make an extension or stoppage request.
However, the Covid pandemic has slowed down procedures of applying for an extension, leading to the shortages of many kinds of medicine.
