Procedures for national circulation of health insurance fund-covered antiretroviral drugs in Vietnam

According to Article 8 of the Circular No. 22/2020/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam, procedures for national circulation of health insurance fund-covered antiretroviral drugs (in case the quantity of drugs to be circulated exceeds the one prescribed in Clause 4 Article 7 of this Circular):

- The provincial HIV/AIDS Control Agency shall send a written request for circulation of drugs to Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control within 05 working days from the receipt of the written request for circulation of drugs from the provincial Department of Health;

- Within 10 days from the receipt of the written request from the provincial HIV/AIDS Control Agency, Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control shall review the quantity of drugs used, in stock and yet to be supplied to health facilities nationwide under the framework agreement for issuing a drug circulation decision, and send written notifications to provincial HIV/AIDS Control Agencies among which drugs will be circulated (receiving and transferring provincial HIV/AIDS Control Agencies), the contractor for implementation, the contract-signing unit for adjusting the quantity of drugs of health facilities on the health insurance assessment-related information system and monitoring, and the procuring unit for monitoring;

- Within 10 working days from the receipt of the notification from Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control, the contractor shall make circulation of drugs as requested.

If there are health facilities having demands for health insurance fund-covered antiretroviral drugs but such demands are not yet consolidated when formulating the contractor selection plan:

- The provincial HIV/AIDS Control Agency shall consolidate demands for health insurance fund-covered antiretroviral drugs of health facilities, written requests for circulation of drugs and documents proving the health facility’s satisfaction of requirements for provision of covered healthcare services with antiretroviral drugs sent to the provincial Department of Health for appraisal and send a written request for circulation of drugs to Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control;

- Within 10 days from the receipt of the request from the provincial HIV/AIDS Control Agency, Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control shall consolidate and review demands for health insurance fund-covered antiretroviral drugs of the requesting province and other provinces nationwide for making circulation, and send written notifications to the procuring unit, the contract-signing unit and provincial HIV/AIDS Control Agency for adding such health facilities to the list of health facilities using health insurance fund-covered antiretroviral drugs, and send a notification to the contractor for implementation;

- Within 07 working days from the receipt of Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control, the contract-signing unit shall enter into a contract for supply of additional drugs to health facilities having demands with the contractor in accordance with regulations of the Law on bidding;

- The contractor shall send the copies of the contract, enclosed with the appendix of health facilities having demands, to the procuring unit, Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control, provincial HIV/AIDS Control Agency and health facilities;

- The contract-signing unit shall send the copies of the contract, enclosed with the appendix of each province, to Vietnam Social Security and provincial social security offices.

- Within 07 working days from the date of conclusion of the contract for supply of additional drugs to health facilities having demands, the contractor shall make circulation of drugs at the request of Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control and the contract-signing unit for monitoring.

Note: The additional amount of drugs to be circulated by Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control shall not exceed 30% of total quantity of drugs to be supplied to health facilities nationwide under the framework agreement. If the quantity of circulated drugs exceeds the quantity prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article, Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control shall send a written request to the procuring unit for carrying out procedures for additional procurement.

View more details at the Circular No. 22/2020/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam, effective from January 20, 2021.

Le Vy

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