Under Prime Ministerial Decision No. 1250/QD-TTg, signed by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra, the Government's plan to implement conclusions of Party General Secretary and State President To Lam at his working session with the Party Committee of the Ministry of Health on the development of Vietnam's traditional medicine sector.
The conclusions have been issued in Notice No. 68-TB/VPTW from the Party Central Committee Office
Under the Government's implementation plan, medicinal herbs and the medicinal material industry will be developed into a national strategic economic sector, thus promoting the value of Vietnamese traditional medicines.
The plan requires the conservation, efficient exploitation, and sustainable development of Vietnam’s precious medicinal resources. This includes developing high-value medicinal herb cultivation areas that meet GACP (Good Agricultural and Collection Practices) standards. Priority will be given to ethnic and mountainous areas to create livelihoods, ensure sustainable poverty reduction, conserve biodiversity, and leverage indigenous knowledge. The goal is to achieve self-sufficiency in medicinal raw materials and overcome the current dependence on imports.
At the same time, the Government aims to develop a synchronized value chain for medicinal materials, ranging from seed selection, cultivation zones, and quality standards to traceability, extraction, deep processing, production, branding, and export.
Quality control will be strictly managed to eliminate counterfeit and substandard medicinal herbs. There will also be an increased focus on establishing quality standards for traditional ingredients and herbal medicines, with a particular emphasis on those of Vietnamese origin.
The plan also highlights the importance of attracting investment into the medicinal industry and the production of traditional drugs. It encourages industrial pharmaceutical projects that follow a value chain from cultivation and deep processing to drug production, utilizing a "four-party" cooperation model involving the State, scientists, farmers, and entrepreneurs.
According to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam possesses rich and diverse medicinal resources, including many rare and endemic species with high medical and economic value.
The national catalog of medicinal species currently lists over 5,100 plant species, 408 animal species, and 75 types of minerals used in medicine. This is considered a precious resource and a particularly important advantage for developing traditional medicine, the pharmaceutical industry, and the country's bio-economy.
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