Proposal to invest in 2 cancer radiotherapy centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

On the morning of November 1, speaking at a discussion session on socio-economics, delegate Nguyen Tri Thuc, Director of Cho Ray Hospital, said that Vietnam does not yet have a proton cancer radiotherapy machine.

This is the most advanced external beam technique today, allowing the delivery of maximum radiation to the tumor, regardless of the location and size of the tumor, which is very complex and dangerous, helping to minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Proton radiotherapy is also very useful for treating cancer in children.

Therefore, he suggested that the Government pay attention to investing in two proton radiotherapy treatment centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to improve the quality of health care for the people.

Đề xuất xây 2 trung tâm xạ trị ung thư bằng proton tại Hà Nội, TP.HCM - Ảnh 1. — Delegate Nguyen Tri Thuc, Director of Cho Ray Hospital

In particular, data from the World Cancer Association shows that in 2020, Vietnam had more than 182,000 new cancer cases, of which 60% were indicated for radiotherapy. However, for a population of about 100 million, there are only 84 normal radiotherapy machines, meeting only about 60 - 70%.

Mr. Thuc also stated the necessity and great importance of premarital health check-ups to detect infectious diseases such as hepatitis A, B, syphilis..., especially genetic diseases.

Pre-marital health check-ups demonstrate responsibility towards the wife and husband. Because in the process of performing their duties, doctors have witnessed mothers who only found out they had atrial stenosis and severe heart failure when they gave birth...

"The doctors had to make a heartbreaking choice between saving the mother or saving the child. All of these problems are completely preventable when conducting premarital health check-ups. However, according to the provisions of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family and Decree 123 of 2015 of the Government, there is no mandatory regulation for premarital health check-ups before marriage," Mr. Thuc said.

Meanwhile, if you marry a foreigner, you are required to undergo a very thorough medical examination, including a neuropsychiatric examination. Therefore, he suggested that there should be a regulation requiring a premarital health examination before registering for marriage; at the same time, there should be support policies for women in remote areas and poor people.

Previously, on the afternoon of October 31, discussing the health sector, delegate Pham Khanh Phong Lan (HCMC delegation) requested the Government to add to the report how efforts have been made to resolve the supply of medicines and medical supplies.

It only takes Japan about 3 months, France 15 months, Korea 18 months, but we take an average of 2 - 4 years for a new drug to be included in the health insurance drug list, thus losing the rights of people to receive health insurance.

Delegate Pham Khanh Phong Lan

Ms. Lan also proposed updating the drug list so that patients can promptly use the latest achievements of mankind. This, according to the delegate, is very slow compared to other countries.

In addition, patients with health insurance still have to buy their own medicine. "I would like to ask the question again, what is the responsibility of health insurance in paying for the money that people have to spend to buy this medicine? Because this is the people's right and if we cannot supply it, it is our fault," delegate Lan emphasized and proposed to supplement the national reserve policy on rare medicines to solve some special cases.

In addition, the lack of vaccines for expanded immunization is still a risk. "I am also very curious and would like the Government to make additional additions, such as whether there is any difference in the remuneration policy for medical staff; to be able to most accurately demonstrate the concern for the medical sector, which is also concern for social security, health, rights, and lives of patients," Ms. Lan said.

The cause of this situation, according to her, is not only due to lack of money or lack of human resources, but sometimes also due to regulations and procedures that are too complicated, "contradictory" and slow to be amended. These difficulties cannot be solved by the health sector alone, but also require the attention of the Government and synchronous direction for all sectors to participate.

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