The MoH Drug Administration said price should be under the management of the Finance Ministry, while technical and production control under the Health Ministry.

Speaking at a conference in HCM City on Tuesday, the administration’s director, Truong Quoc Cuong, said administrative interference can not stop price hikes which are subject to market forces.

The deputy chairman of the National Assembly’s Social Affairs, Nguyen Van Tien, said rising prices are affecting the poor’s ability to pay.

“The prices of medicine are, in some cases, 20 times higher than the production cost, and responsible agencies must take action to stop this,” Tien said.

The prices of imported medicine are influenced by the distribution chain and fluctuations in the value of foreign currency.

To comply with the laws on medicine, Cuong said the health ministry should set the maximum prices for 22,000 kinds of medicines.

The two ministries have already set prices for three kinds of medicine, but has not yet put them into pratice.

The deputy director of the HCM City Health Department, Pham Khanh Phong Lan, said domestic producers have the capacity to make high quality medicine, but international brands remain highly competitive.

“This is one reason for the failure in price management,” Lan said.

Participants in the conference said the ministry should invest more in developing domestic production of medicine.

Cuong said it is important to find more suppliers and improve control of direct sales of medicine to stores and hospitals by licensed distributors and dealers.