On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Vietnamese Doctors' Day (February 27, 1955 - February 27, 2025), on the morning of February 24, in Hanoi, General Secretary To Lam and the Central Working Delegation visited and worked with the Ministry of Health on the results of medical work in the past time and the direction and tasks for the coming time.
The delegation included Politburo members, Party Central Committee Secretaries: Le Minh Hung, Head of the Party Central Committee's Organization Commission; Nguyen Trong Nghia, Head of the Party Central Committee's Propaganda and Education Commission; Le Hoai Trung, Party Central Committee Secretary, Head of the Party Central Committee's Office; Party Central Committee members: Tran Quang Phuong, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly; Le Thanh Long, Deputy Prime Minister; and leaders of a number of central departments, ministries and branches.
Basic health indicators of the people have improved significantly.
At the working session, summarizing the results of leadership and direction in implementing the tasks of the health sector in the past time, comrade Dao Hong Lan, member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Health said that the health sector has strived to overcome difficulties, carry out the task of caring for, protecting and improving people's health, achieving many positive results.
Basic health indicators and the level of health service enjoyment of the people have improved significantly over the years; many indicators have exceeded the requirements of Resolution No. 20-NQ/TW in 2017 on strengthening the protection, care and improvement of people's health in the new situation. The average life expectancy of the people is now 74.7 years old; the height of Vietnamese people has increased; the malnutrition and stunting of children under 5 years old has decreased significantly.
The system of medical examination and treatment facilities is organized into three professional levels, distributed according to regions across the country to meet the health care needs of the people. In 2024, the number of hospital beds per 10,000 people will reach 34. The private health network is also developing strongly; nationwide there are 343 private hospitals with a total number of hospital beds accounting for 5.26% of the total number of hospital beds nationwide. The model of combining military and civilian medicine, public security medicine, and island medicine has been promoted and effectively promoted, especially in remote, border, and island areas. Expanded immunization has been implemented since 1985 in 100% of communes and wards nationwide to protect public health and prevent common and dangerous infectious diseases.
The medical workforce is increasingly strengthened in both quantity and quality. In 2024, the medical workforce targets per 10,000 people will be 14 doctors, 18 nurses and 3.3 university pharmacists, respectively. Vietnam has approached and mastered cutting-edge techniques in the medical field (such as organ transplantation, multiple organ transplantation on a patient, fetal heart intervention, cardiovascular intervention techniques; in vitro fertilization; stem cell transplantation; spinal surgery techniques using robots...). These techniques have been and continue to be transferred from experts of central and upper-level hospitals to local hospitals across the country. Along with that, promoting the potential and strengths of traditional medicine.
The health sector has strengthened research and application of medical science, developing scientific fields to serve the protection and care of human health. The application of information technology and digital transformation in the health sector is increasingly focused and developed. All 63 provinces and cities have deployed Electronic Health Books; 100% of medical examination and treatment facilities with health insurance examination and treatment contracts have connected with the National Population Data Center, integrating nearly 21 million health insurance card accounts, including nearly 16 million Electronic Health Book accounts (reaching nearly 16% of the country's population)...
In addition to the achievements, the health sector still has difficulties and shortcomings. These are: The large disparities between regions in terms of health indicators, access to health services and quality of health services. The health system still focuses mainly on treatment; disease prevention and primary health care at the grassroots level have not received due attention; people have to face the burden of disease along with the burden of increasing health costs. The scale of health human resources has not met expectations. The financial mechanism for grassroots health care still has many difficulties, has not ensured financial resources for grassroots health activities, and preventive medicine has not created appropriate incentives to enhance the capacity and quality of grassroots health services. Investment in science and technology development has not been synchronous and timely to meet the general speed of science and technology development in the region and internationally.
Improve medical ethics, focus on disease prevention for people
Speaking at the meeting, General Secretary To Lam affirming the glorious tradition of 70 years of construction, labor, dedication and growth of the health sector; praising the achievements, the great contributions of the sector in the cause of people's health care and the tireless efforts of the team of professors, doctors, cadres and employees of the health sector nationwide. The General Secretary also pointed out the current challenges, limitations and shortcomings in the work of people's health care and directed the direction and tasks that need to be focused on in the coming time, emphasizing that the task of the health sector is not only to examine and treat diseases but also to prevent diseases and take care of people's health to limit diseases.
The General Secretary affirmed that in order to address the challenges facing the health sector today and in the coming years, in addition to continuing to effectively implement the Party's resolutions on the health sector, the health sector needs to renew its thinking on the health sector; focus on researching disease prevention measures, improving health, prolonging life; enhancing capacity for reproductive health, pediatrics and geriatrics; strengthening community health; increasing the number of people visiting medical facilities for annual or semi-annual health check-ups. Focus on removing difficulties, barriers and bottlenecks for the health sector to rise up, to have "a health system suitable to the needs of our people" as Uncle Ho wished 70 years ago.
Emphasizing the need to improve medical ethics among medical staff, the General Secretary suggested that, in order to effectively implement Uncle Ho's teachings for medical staff, each physician, doctor, medical staff, and worker, in addition to doing their job well, must raise awareness of respecting and protecting the lives and health of patients; treat patients fairly, without discrimination based on their "personality"; respect the rights and dignity of patients; be honest and objective in performing their work; always study to improve their knowledge and professional qualifications; demonstrate responsibility to the community and society, to truly be a "Kind Mother" in the eyes of patients and their families.
The health sector needs to focus on consolidating and improving the quality of the grassroots health system. Upgrade equipment and infrastructure for district health centers and commune health stations; ensure that grassroots health has enough qualified doctors and medical staff, especially in remote areas; continuously improve the quality of health services to attract people to seek medical examination and treatment locally instead of rushing to higher-level hospitals. Improve the effectiveness of vaccination and preventive health programs, expand the coverage of the expanded immunization program, and ensure that all children are fully vaccinated. In addition to the task of examining and treating people, it is necessary to improve disease prevention measures and primary health care measures to limit diseases.
To reduce the overload at upper-level hospitals, the General Secretary pointed out that the health sector should strengthen training and transfer techniques from central-level hospitals to provincial and district-level hospitals; invest in developing specialized medical centers in localities; at the same time, increase the application of technology in medical examination and treatment, helping patients in remote areas access specialist doctors without having to travel far; build an online health consultation system to support initial diagnosis; encourage the development of hospitals and medical services outside the state sector. The Ministry of Health should soon have specific proposals to improve salaries and allowances for doctors and nurses, especially in disadvantaged areas; provide financial support for medical students who commit to working at grassroots health facilities after graduation; create conditions for doctors to participate in scientific conferences and exchange experiences with foreign experts to improve their qualifications and experience.
The Ministry of Health also needs to improve health insurance policies to support the disadvantaged; improve the health insurance payment list to reduce the financial burden for patients with serious illnesses. Improve health laws, develop a comprehensive strategy for human health care and public health. Quickly overcome shortcomings in bidding for the purchase of drugs and medical equipment - an institutional "bottleneck", so as not to affect the operation of the health sector and the quality of health care for the people. Develop traditional medicine combined with modern medicine; invest in oriental medicine research centers, develop effective herbal treatment methods; support the training of traditional medicine doctors, and expand the model of combining Eastern and Western medicine.
The General Secretary requested to promote digital transformation in health management; deploy electronic medical records, synchronize health data between hospitals and medical facilities. Increase the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data in disease diagnosis, treatment and analysis of disease trends, and invest in developing software to support doctors in making treatment decisions, increasing the accuracy of disease diagnosis. Improve public health work, promote disease prevention among the people, develop the movement of physical training, encourage regular health check-ups; encourage healthy lifestyles, prevent diseases. Focus on international cooperation to enhance the capacity to control and respond to epidemics; cooperate in scientific research and develop the medical industry. Pay attention to the issue of environmental sanitation, focus on educating the community on maintaining hygiene in living places, workplaces...
* On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam congratulated Health Sector Celebrates 70th Anniversary Vietnamese Doctors' Day (February 27, 1955 - February 27, 2025) and the traditional book with the content: Proud of the heroic tradition of the Vietnamese Health Sector. The care of our people's health has been inherited from the history of the nation and the country. The Health Sector is proud of Uncle Ho's teachings and must compete to carry out his teachings well, the most profound of which is "A physician is like a mother"... The longevity and development of Vietnam is due to the very important contribution of the work of taking care of people's health. The Party, the State and the people trust and assign this task and responsibility to the Health Sector, hoping that generations of professors, physicians, doctors and medical staff will successfully complete this noble and glorious mission.
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