Vietnam Health Ministry Tightens Control over Licenses of Medical Units

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health is working out a draft circular to tighten control over certification and operational licenses for medical units nationwide. Under the draft circular, beauty salons will be banned from breast augmentation surgery and liposuction, while obstetrical clinics are not allowed to abort foetuses of more than seven weeks. Beauty clinics will be permitted to conduct operations, including face lifts, facial dimpling, chin and eyelid surgery, but banned from a number of operations like breast augmentation, nipple reduction, abdominal wall reduction and liposuction. General medical clinics are also only allowed to provide medical checks, consultancy, first aid and treatment for patients with normal diseases. But, they are banned from conducting specialized techniques. The draft showed that people who take technical responsibility for a clinic must have a certificate to practice for at least one of specialties that the clinic has registered to offer. Abortion rates among adolescents in Vietnam are higher than any other country in Southeast Asia region and stand fifth in the world, the Vietnam Family Planning Association said. Up to 300,000 abortions are annually performed on women and girls between the ages of 15 and 19 in Vietnam. Many of them have had multiple abortions. (www2.dtinews.vn Oct 20, An Ninh Thu Do – Capital Security Oct 20 p6)