Professor Tran Van Thuan, Deputy Minister of Health, said at a workshop held on October 13 in Ha Noi by the ministry and the Viet Nam Health Economics Association, that the assessment of medical technology and pharmaceutical economics had served as important tools in the health policy-making and prioritisation process in many countries, especially in the development of health-insurance benefit packages.

Thuan also said the national strategy for protecting and improving people’s health in the 2011-20 period, with a vision towards 2030, pointed out that one of the important tasks of the health sector was setting up standards and implementing medical-technology assessment in order to determine effective and low-cost medical interventions and ensure the quality of medical services.

The use of medical-technology assessment in building health insurance policies would not only be an encouragement but also a mandatory requirement, especially for drugs, medical supplies and technical services, he said.

The health ministry had been working with relevant ministries to compile the draft revised Law on Health Insurance, which also emphasised that the development of health insurance benefit packages should be based on medical-technology assessment, he added.

Also at the workshop, Deputy General Director of Viet Nam Social Security Pham Luong Son said health insurance policies had been effectively implemented over the past 28 years, with universal health insurance coverage exceeding 90 per cent.

The result played a significant role in ensuring financial resources in protecting and giving care to people’s health, he said.

Son said he highly appreciated the coordination between the Viet Nam Social Security and the health ministry over past years.

He said the social security agency would be more active in coordinating with the health ministry, the Viet Nam Health Economics Association as well as relevant agencies to build the national input database for the domestic health policies.

At the workshop, participants also exchanged experience and shared information on building the input database and proposed a plan to develop an assessment system of medical technology in Viet Nam./.