President Vo Van Thuong speaks at the ceremony in Hanoi on February 26. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Party and State always place people at the centre of
development, and caring for and improving people’s health is one of the
important tasks and top priorities of Vietnam’s development policy, President
has affirmed.
He
made the remarks while addressing a programme held in Hanoi on February 26 to
honour health workers and present awards of the sixth writing contest named “Unsung
Sacrifice” on the occasion of the 69th anniversary of the Vietnamese
Doctors’ Day (February 27, 1955 – 2024).
Congratulating
health workers nationwide on the day, President Thuong said that over the last
69 years, generations of health workers have made unceasing efforts to surmount
countless difficulties and devote themselves to the care for, protection, and improvement
of public health.
The
health sector has obtained significant achievements to make breakthroughs in
many specialised areas, help improve the stature and health of Vietnamese
people, and greatly contribute to national development, thereby helping the
country become a bright spot in the realisation of the Millennium Development
Goals and take firm steps towards the Sustainable Development Goals in the field
of health care, he stated.
The State leader highlighted that the widespread healthcare system from the
grassroots level now covers even remote, border, and maritime areas. Vietnam is
among the best performers in reducing maternal and infant mortality rates while
people’s health indexes have been improved considerably.
Besides,
he added, low-income earners, ethnic minority people, children, the elderly,
and persons with disabilities have been assisted to access medical services. The
quality of health examination and treatment has been increasingly bettered. A number
of epidemics and social diseases have been curbed and eradicated. People’s longevity
has also been improved.
The
President noted that many specialised medical advances have become sources of
pride for Vietnam and been recognised in the world, opening a bright prospect
for the treatment of fatal and rare diseases. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic hitting
all countries around the world, health workers of Vietnam exerted utmost
efforts to join the entire people in the disease combat.
President Vo Van Thuong (first, right) and Standing Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man (first, left) present awards to winners of the sixth “Unsung Sacrifice” writing contest at the programme. (Photo: VNA)The enormous contributions by the health sector have won recognition from the
Party and State, respect and trust from people, and high evaluation from other
countries in the region and the world, he went on.
In
his speech, President Thuong also pointed out certain difficulties and challenges
facing the sector such as fast population aging, complex changes of disease
patterns, inappropriate policies for , and overloading at
higher-level hospitals.
Given
this, the immediate task is to quickly perfect related policies and legal
regulations, create a professional, safe, and favourable work environment for
health workers, and encourage the innovative spirit. In addition, it is
important to boost digital transformation, science – technology application,
manpower training, transfer of techniques to lower-level medical facilities,
grassroots healthcare development, and preventive medicine, according to the
leader.
He called on each health worker to sustain the love for their job, study and
access new things, master in-depth and modern scientific and technical
advances, and pay due attention to the training of following generations of
health workers.
With their medical ethics, wisdom, talent, and big aspirations, health workers should
set new visions and targets to help Vietnam’s become one of the
best in the region and the world, the President remarked.
At the programme, awards were presented to 15 entries shortlisted in the final
round of the sixth “Unsung Sacrifice” writing contest on the health sector./.
Source: VietnamPlus
