Who is a sale representative of the pharmacy under the law in Vietnam? Current requirements to become a sale representative of the pharmacy in Vietnam

Hello, Lawnet would like to answer as follows:

1. Who is a sale representative of the pharmacy under the law in Vietnam?

Sale representative of the pharmacy is the person who introduces drugs to medicine practitioners as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 21 of Circular 07/2018/TT-BYT.

Sale representative of the pharmacy can understand as follows:

The sale representative of the pharmacy is granted a sale representative card by the head of the pharmacy business establishment to introduce drugs to medicine practitioners.

The main tasks of a sale representative of the pharmacy are to introduce drugs and convince people, such as doctors, pharmacists, pharmacy owners, and clinic owners, to prescribe or recommend the company's products to people who want to buy them.

2. Requirements to become a sale representative of the pharmacy in Vietnam

According to Clauses 2 and 3, Article 21 of Circular 07/2018/TT-BYT, the sale representative shall satisfy the following requirements:

- Having a college degree or higher in medicine or pharmacy.

- Being recruited and trained by the pharmacy business establishment for professional skills related to introducing drugs and understanding the legislative documents on Pharmacy.

Cases where the sale representative is not recruited include:

- Be facing a criminal prosecution, serving a court’s sentence or ruling; be suspended from practice or doing works related to pharmacy under the court’s sentence or ruling.

- Having limited legal capacity.

3. What is a sale representative OTC and sale representative ETC of the pharmacy?

Sale representative OTC of the pharmacy

OTC stands for Over The Counter, which refers to over-the-counter drugs in pharmaceutical terminology. Therefore, a sale representative OTC of the pharmacy is someone who introduces information about non-prescription drugs that are allowed to be used without a doctor's permission.

Sale representative OTC of the pharmacy do not directly sell products, but will make connections with pharmacies and drugstores for these units to sell to consumers.

Sale representative ETC of the pharmacy

Sale representative ETC stands for Ethical Drugs, which refers to prescription drugs. Therefore, the ETC sale representative of the pharmacy is the person who introduces prescription drugs, which require a doctor's prescription and permission to use.

Unlike sale representative OTC, a sale representative ETC will work with hospitals, clinics, and medical centers, so in terms of professional qualifications, sale representative ETC will need to have higher requirements to practice.

4. Responsibilities of a sale representative of the pharmacy in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 22 of Circular 07/2018/TT-BYT, responsibilities of a sale representative of the pharmacy in Vietnam include:

+ Wear the sale representative card issued by the establishment and follow the regulations promulgated by the health facilities while working.

+ Only introduce drugs if permitted by the medical practitioners.

+ Only introduce drugs on the List of drugs which is assigned by the pharmacy business establishment, and shall only provide information from the registered medication guides or any drugs information that is verified by the competent authority of the Ministry of Health.

+ When required by the head of health facility or the medical practitioner, provide legal documents proving the legality of the drug information according to the regulations.

+ Collect the reports on the drugs’ adverse effects and reports related to the quality of drugs, then send them to the competent authority of the Ministry of Health according to the National guidelines on Pharmacovigilance promulgated by the Ministry of Health.

 In addition, sale representatives of the pharmacy are not allowed to perform the acts specified in Clause 5, Article 22 of Circular 07/2018/TT-BYT.

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