THE Vietnamese Communist Party has recommended disciplinary action to be taken against the Health Minister and a former Science Minister amid investigations into a Covid-19 test kit scam.
The Party's Central Inspection Committee proposed to the decision-making Politburo on Wednesday that it consider disciplinary action on those involved.
Those involved include the Party Committee of the Ministry of Science and Technology during the 2016-2021 period, the Party Committee of the Ministry of Health during the 2016-2021 period, Hanoi chairman Chu Ngoc Anh who served as the science minister during the period, and health minister Nguyen Thanh Long.
According to a Vn Express report, deputy health minister Nguyen Truong Son, head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology Dang Duc Anh and deputy science minister Pham Cong Tac received warnings.
It said another deputy health minister, Do Xuan Tuyen, and chief inspector of the health ministry Nguyen Manh Cuong were also reprimanded.
According to the report, there are four levels of disciplinary actions for Party members - reprimand, warning, expulsion and demotion.
Previously in March, the Central Inspection Committee had said the Party Committee and officials of the health ministry for the 2016-2021 period were negligent in their management by allowing violations at the ministry and its units regarding the approval, management and sale of Covid-19 test kits.
The Party Committee and officials of the science ministry for the 2016-2021 period were similarly found to have been negligent in their management.
Such violations have resulted in severe consequences, with money and asset losses to the State, and they caused social unrest while affecting the reputation of the Party, the health ministry and science ministry, said the Central Inspection Committee.
The Express report said medical company Viet A general director Phan Quoc Viet had admitted in January that he had inflated the price of a Covid-19 test kit by 45 per cent and sent around VND800 billion (US$35.2 million) as "bonuses" to company partners.
Phan said he had bribed certain individuals to earn over VND500 billion.
Since then, several officials including high ranking military generals and directors of provincial Center for Diseases Control have been arrested or put under criminal investigation for their involvement in the case.