Continuing the 7th session agenda, this afternoon, June 18, the National Assembly discussed in groups the Project to amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Pharmacy and the Project to amend the Law on Cultural Heritage (amended). Deputy Head of the Delegation of National Assembly Deputies of Quang Tri Province Hoang Duc Thang participated in the discussion of these two draft laws.

For the Project to amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Pharmacy:

In Clause 1, Article 1: The delegate proposed to add to Clause 1, Article 1 the phrase “State management” after the phrase “State policy”. According to the delegate, adding this phrase will clarify the comprehensive management role of the State in all activities related to pharmaceuticals, not just stopping at managing “drugs in medical examination and treatment facilities”, “drug quality management” and “drug price management”. This will ensure a strict and unified management system, enhancing the effectiveness of State management in the pharmaceutical sector.

Regarding amendments and supplements to some provisions of Article 79 on drug advertising: Delegate Hoang Duc Thang emphasized the need to further study and amend and supplement the provisions of Article 79 on drug advertising. In particular, it is necessary to focus on determining who is the advertiser: pharmaceutical enterprises, pharmacies, or advertisers. The delegate suggested that pharmaceutical enterprises must be required to prove the quality and effectiveness of drugs before advertising to ensure transparency and accuracy of information to consumers.

Deputy Head of the Quang Tri Province National Assembly Delegation Hoang Duc Thang participated in the discussion of these two draft laws - Photo: CN

The delegate said: currently, drug advertising on many media channels is taking place in a "everyone does it their own way" manner with a lot of information that is difficult to verify about the quality and effectiveness of drugs. This causes confusion for consumers and can lead to negative consequences for health. The amendments and supplements need to clearly stipulate the subjects that are allowed to advertise, requiring pharmaceutical companies to prove the quality and effectiveness of drugs before advertising, in order to ensure the transparency and accuracy of information to consumers.

Regarding Articles 110 and 113 of the Draft, delegate Hoang Duc Thang proposed to clearly define the responsibilities of agencies in drug price management, including: the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance and the Vietnam Social Security. Medicines are special goods that consumers cannot produce themselves, so drug price management must be transparent and avoid group interests to prevent price manipulation, especially for special and scarce drugs. The delegate emphasized that this provision will help ensure consumer rights and transparency in the drug pricing process, from input materials to final products, while also linking the ministries and branches: Health, Finance and Social Security.

For the Draft Law on Cultural Heritage (amended):

Regarding Article 1. Scope of regulation, delegate Hoang Duc Thang proposed to amend Clause 1, Article 1 of the Draft Law on Cultural Heritage to ensure greater clarity and completeness. Specifically, the delegate proposed to rewrite as follows: “Cultural heritage stipulated in this law includes intangible cultural heritage, tangible cultural heritage and documentary heritage which are material values, spiritual values, natural values ​​and assets passed down from generation to generation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” According to the delegate, these three types of heritage have been explained in detail in Clauses 1, 2 and 5, Article 3 of the draft, so they need to be amended and supplemented to avoid confusion and create consistency throughout the legal document.

In Article 3. Interpretation of terms, Clause 1, the definition of “Intangible cultural heritage” needs to be supplemented and detailed to fully reflect the elements of this heritage. Specifically, elements such as language, writing, and beliefs need to be supplemented.

According to delegate Hoang Duc Thang, our country has 54 ethnic groups with rich and diverse cultural identities. Each ethnic group has its own language, voice, and beliefs. These factors need to be preserved and promoted to maintain the cultural identity of each ethnic group; and in Clause 10 of the definition of "Museum", the delegate proposed to revise it to correctly reflect the functions and tasks of the museum. The delegate said that it is necessary to revise the first part of this regulation to emphasize that the museum is first and foremost a place to preserve and display collections of natural and social history. Research and collection tasks are only additional functions later. That is, this issue needs to be expressed in reverse to be correct.

In Article 4. Ownership of cultural heritage, delegates proposed to clearly define the forms of ownership of cultural heritage in Article 4, including ownership by the entire people, common ownership, and private ownership. It is necessary to specifically define cultural heritages under private ownership and common ownership of the community, which are not currently mentioned in the draft.

The delegate emphasized that along with the development of the socio-economy, tourism services on historical and cultural heritage are increasingly developing, many organizations and individuals have invested in collecting, preserving and displaying cultural heritage. Therefore, there should be clear regulations to recognize and protect the ownership of cultural heritage of these organizations and individuals.

The delegate proposed that it is necessary to clearly stipulate the procedures for deciding to cancel the decision to rank a relic in Clause 4 of Article 24.

According to the current delegate, this regulation is inconsistent with Clause 2, so it needs to be clarified to ensure feasibility and transparency in the implementation process. Delegate Hoang Duc Thang said: the regulation in Clause 4, Article 24 on the procedures for canceling the decision to rank a relic contradicts Clause 2, causing difficulties in implementation.

The Deputy Head of the Quang Tri Provincial National Assembly Delegation proposed to add an article after Article 94 on the responsibilities of organizations, communities and individuals managing historical and cultural relics in protecting and restoring ranked relics. According to the delegate, currently, most historical and cultural relics such as pagodas, churches of religions, and family temples are managed, preserved and restored by religious organizations and clans from capital contributions from these organizations and communities.

The State has not invested in these projects, so it is necessary to clearly define responsibilities to mobilize community strength in preserving cultural heritage.

In addition, the delegate also proposed to add regulations on the restoration and repair of religious construction works in historical and cultural relic areas, as well as specific regulations on business and fee collection at museums managing historical and cultural relics. Explaining this proposal, the delegate explained: to avoid taking advantage of relic management for profiteering purposes and to promote community resources in preserving cultural heritage.

Thanh Tuan, Cam Nhung