Children under the age of six would have access to additional medications and supplements under the national health insurance fund thanks to a decision by the Ministry of Health.

Tong Thi Song Huong, the head of the ministry's Health Insurance Department, said that the 58 medicines added to the list include many used to treat heart diseases, blood pressure, cancer, diarrhoea and mental illness, among others.

"These medicines are added to the 600 already offered free by the national health plan because there has been a lack of treatment options for certain diseases," said Huong. They would be available for children under six at all health clinics and hospitals nationwide.

Minister of Health Nguyen Quoc Trieu announced that there would be no limit to the amount of necessary medicine children could use during their treatment.

"With this new regulation, the burden on poor families like mine will be reduced. I have no idea how much money we will save from free medicine, but it will surely help a lot because our daughter is going through long-term treatment," said Nguyen Thi Gai, whose five-year-old daughter is a patient at the National Cancer Hospital.

Trieu asked health clinics and hospitals to take responsibility for stocking up on the covered medicines as a convenience to patients so they wouldn't have to take a trip to the pharmacy.

"Physicians must take care to obey prescription regulations to ensure effective use of the free medicine.