Vietnamese delegates at the 71st World Health Assembly. (Source: VNA)Geneva (VNA) – Vietnam will increase the
number of in charge of preventing, managing and treating
several like and diabetes in the
next 12 months.
This is one of the three concrete steps the country has committed towards
universal health coverage. Such objectives were presented at the 71st World
Health Assembly at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 22 by
Deputy Health Minister Le Quoc Cuong.
The country also aims to expand health insurance coverage from 86.4 percent in
2017 to 88.5 percent at the end of 2018, according to the official.
Besides, Vietnam will mobilise resources through sin-taxes on tobacco and
alcohol and increase public funds, especially health insurance fund, to cover
primary care services, he said.
Cuong called for further financial and technical support from the World Health
Organisation (WHO) and other development partners to implement the commitments.
He stressed that leaving no-one behind is a core principle of universal health
coverage, adding that Vietnam has met 73 percent of public health needs, a relatively
high rate compared to other countries in the Western Pacific region.
However, he said, about 19 percent of Vietnamese families have to spend more
than 10 percent of their income on health services, an unreasonable rate as
evaluated by the WHO.
Given this, the country is redesigning local health care service systems which
can provide integrated care, while allocating financial resources reasonably to
handle this issue, he said.
Vietnam is one of the 34 members of the Executive Board of the WHO for
2016-2019.
The discussed many global matters, including the
WHO’s five-year strategic plan to help countries meet the health targets of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), along with vaccine and medicine shortage
and access, and polio elimination, among others.
Addressing the event, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed
out challenges to human health globally.
He presented an ambitious agenda for change that aims to save 29 million lives
by 2023. The WHO General Programme of Work, designed to address these
challenges and accelerate progress towards the SDGs, centres on the “triple
billion” targets: 1 billion more people benefitting from universal health
coverage, 1 billion more people better protected from health emergencies and 1
billion more people enjoying better health and well-being.
“We are transforming how we work to achieve our vision of a world in which
health is a right for all. We are changing the way we do business,” Tedros
said.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
