The World Health Organization (WHO) in Vietnam and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) will assist Vietnam in producing essential medicines, the Sai Gon Giai Phong online newspaper reported Nov 29. Officials of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, WHO and UNIDO signed agreements on the cooperation in Hanoi on Nov 25. Under the agreements, the two organizations will help Vietnam boost domestic production of essential drugs and use of these drugs among local people. Domestically-made medicines only met 50% of the nation's demand. Vietnam must reportedly import more than 90% of raw materials for medicine production. Vietnam was estimated to spend $52 million on importing pharmaceuticals in the first two weeks of Nov, raising the total imported value to $1.08 billion by mid-Nov, the General Department of Customs’ statistics showed. The country, meanwhile, imported $160 million worth of pharmaceutical materials between Jan and mid-Nov, including $7.1 million in the first two weeks of this month. (sggp.org.vn Nov 29, cimsi.org.vn Nov 27)
