Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien speaks at the Q&A session on June 14 (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said her ministry will do
its utmost to improve grassroots-level healthcare network as the government
already approved a resolution on the plan.
At the National
Assembly’s question and answer session on June 14, Minister Tien said the Ministry of Health had carefully prepared for the
plan on investment and development of grassroots-level healthcare
establishments.
Regarding the query
of deputy Nguyen Thi Le Thuy from southern Ben Tre province on the role of commune medical stations, Tien acknowledged that
there is a shortage of commune clinics, while the quality of existing ones
remains poor. The arrangement of clinics remains inappropriate as there are
many clinics close together in certain plain districts while it takes residents
in isolate and mountainous areas up to half a day to reach a clinic where
equipment for primary healthcare is also insufficient.
About the reform and promotion of grassroots
healthcare establishments raised by deputy Cao Thi Giang of Quang Binh province,
Minister Tien said the sector will focus on grassroots healthcare in this
tenure, adding that the international community has recognised Vietnam’s
achievements in the field, including the network’s spreading to hamlets and
villages, the reduction of maternal and infant mortality rates, and criteria
relating to longevity and nutrition.
The grassroots healthcare network has done a
good job in primary healthcare despite limited resources, she noted.
In the time ahead, the Ministry of Health will
take solutions to improve the apparatus, manpower, finance, infrastructure and
operations of grassroots healthcare establishments. It will coordinate with the
World Health Organisation (WHO) to set up rapid response teams and map the
location of more than 10,000 commune-level medical stations nationwide, the minister
added.
Deputy Le Quan of Hanoi argued that grassroots
healthcare clinics, especially in urban areas, have been equipped relatively
well but the efficiency is still low. Meanwhile, many doctors have had to rent
medical establishments at high expenses.
Vietnam should learn from developed countries’
experience where competent doctors are allowed to make use of grassroots-level
clinics to provide medical services, thus attracting patients and helping to
ease pressure on health insurance, he added.
During the session, Minister Tien was also
grilled about solutions to improve the quality of medical checks-up and
treatment along with medicine prices and supply.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
