Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Recently approved by the Prime Minister, the programme set the overall goal of building the domestic pharmaceutical industry to level 4 according to the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s classification, the top 3 in terms of market value in ASEAN, contributing to ensuring the timely and sufficient supply of safe, quality and effective medicines at reasonable prices.

It also targets developing medicines into a quality and high-value industry that is competitive at home and abroad.

By 2025, the rate of using pharmaceuticals of domestic origin will increase by at least 10 percent from 2020.

At the same time, Vietnam will build eight zones for sustainable exploitation of natural medicinal sources, two to five cultivation areas on a large scale. Each of them will have one to two linkage chains of research, farming and processing following the WHO’s Guidelines on Good Agricultural and Collection Practices.

By early 2030, Vietnam sets to become a pharmaceutical production hub in the region with a total value of nearly 1 billion USD.

To such end, the programme also set out measures regarding institutions, laws, investment, competitiveness improvement, science-technology, workforce training, control of medicine and pharmaceutical market, international cooperation and integration, information and communications.

Accordingly, at least two national-level science-technology tasks using the State budget will be performed in three years while at least five ministry-level pharmaceutical development tasks will be undertaken in one year, focusing on research and production of vaccines as well as national products using domestic medicinal sources./.

BTA