Children under the age of six would
have access to additional medications and supplements under the
national health insurance fund thanks to a decision by the Ministry of
Health.
Tong Thi Song Huong, the head of the
ministry's Health Insurance Department, said that the 58 medicines
added to the list include many used to treat heart diseases, blood
pressure, cancer, diarrhoea and mental illness, among others.
"These medicines are added to the 600 already offered free by the
national health plan because there has been a lack of treatment options
for certain diseases," said Huong. They would be available for children
under six at all health clinics and hospitals nationwide.
Minister of Health Nguyen Quoc Trieu announced that there would be no
limit to the amount of necessary medicine children could use during
their treatment.
"With this new regulation, the burden on poor families like mine will
be reduced. I have no idea how much money we will save from free
medicine, but it will surely help a lot because our daughter is going
through long-term treatment," said Nguyen Thi Gai, whose five-year-old
daughter is a patient at the National Cancer Hospital .
Trieu asked health clinics and hospitals to take responsibility for
stocking up on the covered medicines as a convenience to patients so
they wouldn't have to take a trip to the pharmacy.
"Physicians must take care to obey prescription regulations to ensure effective use of the free medicine.
According to current ministry regulations, children under six years
old, even those without health insurance cards, are eligible for health
checks and treatments under the national health insurance fund./.