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Oct 13, 2016 / 09:05

Health sector to overpass National Assembly-set target

Health sector to overpass National Assembly-set target The rate of hospital beds is also likely reach 25 beds per 10,000 people this year, surpassing the National Assembly-set target, which is 24.5, Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien reported at the recent meeting of the National Assembly’s Committee on Social Affairs.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said the sector is also likely to surpass the target set by National Assembly (NA), which is the rate of hospital beds per 10,000 people this year. The rate is estimated to reach 25 beds per 10,000, while the goal is 24.5.
The sector is speeding up with measures to improve medical service quality, particularly reduce the overload at central-level hospitals.
The minister said the network of satellite hospitals has been expanded across all 63 centrally-run cities and provinces, with 22 core hospitals and 98 satellites, thus helping reduce the number of patients seeking treatment at central hospitals.

 
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In additon, an emulation campaign on enhancing medical staff’s services and improving hospitals’ hygiene has also brought positive outcomes.
Regarding health insurance, minister Tien noted the statistics showed that 73.66 million people have joined insurance, accounting for 79.5% of the population compared to the set target of 76%.
However, the health sector is yet to address the big gap in medical service quality and health index between regions.
During the meeting, the NA Committee also expressed concern about outstanding problems such as the outbreaks of infectious diseases including dengue fever and hand-foot-mouth, and food safety.
The financial balance of the health insurance fund is another matter of concern, while the need for medical care is increasing.
The committee members asked the health ministry to clarify whether the raise of medical service fees will actually result in higher quality. Some pointed to the fact that payment procedures for health insurance are complicated, discouraging many from joining insurance.
The committee urged the health ministry to mobilise investment from all possible sources to expand medical services at grassroots level, including the model of family doctors.
The ministry was also required to continue implementing solutions to remain the rate of vaccination against infectious diseases at more than 90% of target groups, and to further improve medical service quality.