Mekong Delta region will have nine doctors per 10,000 populations by 2020 (Source: VNA)HCM City (VNA) – The lacks
doctors to treat major ailments like , leprosy and mental
illnesses, as also surgeons and forensic experts, health department
representatives said at a conference in Can Tho city this week.
The region has 160 general and specialist hospitals
including 21 that are specialised in treating tuberculosis and other lung
diseases, leprosy and mental illnesses. But all these facilities lack qualified
doctors and other personnel, and the problem is set to get much worse.
Of just 152 specialist doctors, around 50 percent of the 152
doctors will retire by 2020, the conference heard.
The 12 provinces and a city in the delta region have 13
forensic science centers but they have only four forensic pathologists.
Of the region’s 13 localities, as many as eight do not have
any doctor with expert knowledge of treating leprosy. In five localities, there
was no surgeon in the oncology department.
Bui Thi Le Phi, head of the Can Tho Department of Health,
suggested that students doing intermediary courses (in nursing or pharmacology)
who want to study further and become doctors should be given opportunities to
do so, and further specialisation should be encouraged.
She said training quotas to allow such transfers should be
increased at the Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy.
Health department officials from the provinces of Tien Giang
and Bac Lieu backed Phi’s suggestion.
A representative of the Southwestern Steering Committee
suggested that the university expands its programmes so that it meets
increasing human resource needs of the region. A university representative said
that it would act accordingly.
By 2020, the region will have nine doctors and two
pharmacists per 10,000 people, it is estimated. The current figures are 6.8 and
1.9, respectively.
Another problem facing the region is that many doctors want
to quit and leave the delta.
Vinh Long province’s Health Department said 10 doctors at
the provincial general hospital have applied to quit.
A Long An Health Department official said several good
in the province have quit their jobs and moved to work in Ho Chi Minh
City.
The low salary at public hospitals is one of the reasons,
representatives said, adding that the difference in salaries between provinces
and city also made it difficult to retain doctors.
The conference was organised by the Can Tho University of
Medicine and Pharmacy in co-operation with the Southwest Steering Committee.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
