At a vaccination site (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – has
said prevention and control was the hardest job but the most outstanding highlight of the health sector in 2021.
Chairing a conference held both online and offline in Hanoi on
January 20, PM Chinh recalled that when the pandemic spread to urban areas without
the availability of vaccines and medicines, the sector brought medical services
to the grassroots level by establishing over 700 mobile communal health
stations, deploying over 300,000 officers, soldiers, medical staff, army and public
security forces to help localities enforce the social distancing order.
He lauded the sector for building the , promoting vaccine
diplomacy, establishing a vaccine fund and launching the largest-ever free
vaccination campaign in the country. The vaccination rate for those aged above
18 with the first shot has so far reached nearly 100 percent, and second shot 95
percent; while the rate for those aged 12-17 with the first shot is 92 percent and the second jab is 76
percent, making Vietnam one of the six countries with the highest
vaccine coverage in the world.
PM Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the event (Photo: VNA) With the consultancy from ministries, agencies, and especially the Ministry of Health, the Government issued Resolution No. 28/NQ-CP on switching
to safe and flexible adaptation to and effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic,
which was welcomed by the public, experts and international organisations and
laid a foundation for socio-economic development, he said.
This year, the PM asked the health sector to continue focusing on the
fight against the pandemic, accelerating the vaccination campaign in a safe,
scientific and effective manner, enhance self-reliance in terms of vaccines, medicines,
medical equipment and biological products while improving treatment and
forecasting capacity.
The sector was required to fix shortcomings related to vaccine
and medicine licensing, and particularly procurement mechanism, and improve the
capacity of the medical system, especially preventive and grassroots medicine.
Further attention must be paid to improving the quality of
medical staff, perfecting financial regulations, strengthening the State
management on pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, and pooling social resources
for protection and care of people’s health, he said.
According to the government leader, the sector also needs to improve the efficiency
of State management on food safety, prevent population aging, develop
traditional medicine, enhance the efficiency of communications to create public
consensus on the Government’s policies and guidelines in the field.
At the event (Photo: VNA) The PM requested continuing to step up the Party building work in the health sector, fighting corruption and negative behaviours,
and build a contingent of medical workers with political mettle and
professional expertise.
PM Chinh believed that the health sector will
continue building on the past achievemens and fulfill all assigned tasks this year.
On the occasion, he launched a spring vaccination campaign and assigned the Ministry of Health to build a detailed plan for the
effort./.
Source: VietnamPlus
