The National Assembly (NA) today [June 7] agreed to remove Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long from office for the 2021-2026 term and as the NA Deputy with 94% of the approval rate.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long was dismissed due to his involvement in the Viet A's Covid-19 test kit scam. File photo

NA Standing Committee's Commission for Deputy Affairs Nguyen Thi Thanh informed at a press conference held on the same day.

According to Thanh, the competent authorities previously concluded that in the position of Minister of Health, Long was negligent in management and directly responsible for the charges committed at the ministry regarding the approval, management, and sale of the Covid-19 test kits.

Long was charged with violating the Party and the State’s regulations, causing severe consequences and public asset losses, undermining the Covid-19 fight, causing social unrest, and staining the reputation of the Party and the health ministry, Thanh said.

In an extraordinary meeting yesterday, the Party Central Committee decided to expel Long from the Communist Party.

Long was the latest senior official facing disciplinary measures for his involvement in the Covid-19 test kit scam by Viet A Company, which had inflated the price of a Covid-19 test kit by 45% before selling it to health facilities across the country for unfair gains.