Business Development Asia LLC

South East Asian Health News

ISSUE 7, JUNE 1998

VIETNAM

Dong Da Electronics, a local company, announced it is proposing to produce medical electronic equipment for export to the US. The company reported that it will coordinate with the Ministry of Health to manufacture medical products for export and domestic use. (May 29^th 1998)

Pfizer has announced that it will ask the Vietnam Pharmaceutical Management Department for permission to introduce Viagra in Vietnam. The Department has not yet permitted any company to import the anti-impotence drug. (May 22^nd 1998)

Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City will receive VND25.5bn (US$2m) from the Government between now and the year 2000. The majority will be spent on modernizing equipment and the remainder will go towards upgrading infrastructure. (May 12^th 1998)

The Vietnamese Government has allocated VND120bn (US$9m) to upgrade medical equipment in district, regional, provincial and central hospitals, and VND4bn (US$300,000) to develop communal healthcare clinics. The Government has also allocated VND194bn (US$15m) to the Friendship Hospital and Military Hospital 108 in Hanoi for 1998-2003. In four years, more than VND500bn (US$40m) has been spent on upgrading hospitals and VND81bn (US$6.6m) on developing communal healthcare clinics. (June 11^th 1998)