National Criteria for Health: In-depth Investment Direction

(Baonghean) - The Resolution of the 17th Provincial Party Congress set a target that by 2015, 60% of communes, wards and towns will meet the national criteria on commune health (before 2012, it was the national standard on health)... By the end of 2014, the whole province had 245/480 communes, wards and towns meeting the criteria and 60 more communes are submitting to the Provincial People's Committee for recognition...

Medical examination at Chau Thuan Commune Health Station, Quy Chau District.

Improving grassroots healthcare

Among the 245 localities that have met the national criteria for commune health, Dien Van is one of the typical communes. Dien Van Health Station with 2 solid and spacious buildings was built on an area of ​​800m2. The station has 16 hospital beds, 10 staff, and all necessary equipment such as ultrasound machines, X-ray machines, blood and urine biochemistry testing machines. Currently, each year, Dien Van Commune Health Station provides medical examination and treatment for 14,000 people. Doctor Tran Dinh Thong, Head of Dien Van Commune Health Station, said that the resources to build the station and commune to meet the national criteria for health: "The initial success was achieved thanks to the participation with high determination of the Party Committee, the government as well as the people, mobilizing all possible resources to invest in building the commune to meet the national criteria for health".

Like Dien Van commune, the participation of the Party committee, government, organizations and people is the way for Nghi Xuan commune, Nghi Loc district to achieve the national criteria on health. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee shared: "Inherently a poor commune, in previous years, the commune health station's operation was not guaranteed due to degraded facilities and lack of medical equipment. To find a solution, the Party Committee and the Commune People's Committee actively mobilized the support and donations of businesses and children working far away to invest in building facilities. From the consensus, the commune encouraged each household to contribute 50,000 VND/year and working days to build a spacious health station with 22 functional rooms, 29 hospital beds and many other expensive equipment such as X-ray machines, ultrasound machines, testing machines and 1 ambulance"... Similarly, Nam Trung commune, Nam Dan district, thanks to the mobilization of support from children who have achieved success far away from home, the source of contribution of 5,000 VND/person/year to build and meet the National Criteria for Commune Health.

In 2011, Chau Thuan (Quy Chau) met national health standards, but at that time the commune health station was still dilapidated, with insufficient rooms and medical equipment. In 2012, implementing the development of commune health according to the new national criteria for commune health, Chau Thuan commune established a steering committee with the participation of departments, branches, and organizations and proposed implementation measures. In 2013, thanks to the commune budget and the district's project resources, 2 blocks of the station were built. 50% of Chau Thuan households are poor households, but each person contributed 2,000 VND, as well as contributed to leveling the construction site; each medical staff also contributed 100,000 VND/month to buy medicine and medical equipment. To improve the quality of health for the people, the Commune Health Station - Commune Cultural Committee - Village Executive Committee regularly conduct health education propaganda for the people on the loudspeaker system, banners, in each meeting. Therefore, in 2013, Chau Thuan commune was recognized as a commune that met the national criteria on health.

Good advice to the commune government and timely planning for implementation are valuable experiences of Nghia Duc Health Station, Nghia Dan district in building a commune that meets the criteria. Nghia Duc mountainous commune is over 30 km from the center of Nghia Dan district, with 50% of the population being Tho and Thai ethnic groups, and the people's need for medical examination and treatment. In 2013, Nghia Duc Health Station was still lacking in many aspects, with small and cramped rooms. But after a year, everything changed: Facilities and equipment were upgraded and purchased, and the quality of the station's operations was improved. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha, Head of Nghia Duc Commune Health Station, explained: In March 2014, Nghia Duc started building a commune that meets the national criteria for health. Thanks to good advice and the high determination of the commune government, in just 8 months, the commune built a new health station and purchased all the equipment to meet the needs of regular medical examination and treatment. Nghia Duc achieved the national criteria for commune health in November 2014.

Sustainable and innovative

In September 2011, the Ministry of Health issued the National Criteria for Commune Health for the period 2011 - 2020, replacing the old standards. Starting to build communes that meet the criteria, Nghe An's health sector encountered many obstacles: Over time, the physical facilities of the stations have degraded, so most localities have had to upgrade or rebuild; 19% of the communes, wards and towns that have not met the old standards are in remote, mountainous areas; in communes near urban centers, people do not go to the station for examination and treatment but go beyond the line; many localities have a mentality of self-satisfaction and lack of investment. Faced with this situation, Nghe An has issued many mechanisms, policies and supports to remove and overcome difficulties; districts and cities have actively and resolutely directed communes, wards, towns and health stations to actively participate. As a result, in 2013, 50.8% of communes met the criteria, in 2014, Nghe An had 60 more communes that were qualified to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for recognition as communes meeting the national criteria on health. Thus, it is expected that Nghe An will have 305/480 communes meeting, reaching 63.35%, exceeding the target set by the Resolution and the national average (60%).

Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hong - Deputy Director of the Department of Health said: To exceed the set target is thanks to the movement to build new rural areas in depth, the criteria on health are put on top; the quality of medical examination and treatment, primary health care at health stations is improved, creating consensus among the people; the Health sector and authorities at all levels have taken drastic action... Mr. Pham Quoc Viet, Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee - Head of the Steering Committee for building communes that meet the national criteria on health in Hung Nguyen district said: Hung Nguyen has a mechanism to encourage each commune to receive 100 million VND if it meets the national criteria on health. For communes under construction, the district supports from 100-300 million VND/commune. Thanks to this attention, up to now, Hung Nguyen has had 11/23 communes meeting the national criteria on health, of which 8 communes met in 2014. Hung Nguyen strives to have 70% of communes meet national health criteria by 2015.

It can be said that the number of units meeting the National Criteria for Commune Health has now exceeded the target set by the Resolution, but to reach the goal by 2020, the province has 80% of communes meeting the criteria, there is still a challenge. Besides, there is concern about maintaining operations according to the standards of the criteria. The difficulty of maintaining is that there is still no guidance from the Ministry of Health regarding the re-evaluation of the title; there will be a self-satisfaction mentality among health workers as well as local authorities; many health stations are still short of staff and weak in professional qualifications. The difficulty of completing the target of 80% of communes meeting the criteria is: Communes that have not met the criteria are mostly very difficult communes in highland areas, especially lacking in resources. For example, in Ky Son district, up to now, no commune has met the national criteria for health.

Dr. Cao Dinh Minh, Director of Dien Chau Medical Center, suggested: “There needs to be synchronous direction and ensure sufficient conditions to implement the set of criteria. Localities need to regularly review to have a complete plan; all levels and sectors need to strengthen supervision as well as invest in resources, human resources, and provide professional training for commune health workers…

Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hong, Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Health affirmed: In the coming time, the sector will focus on directing health stations to fulfill their responsibilities of advising the authorities at all levels, implementing step by step according to the outlined roadmap, specifically in improving facilities and training human resources. The health sector will constantly strengthen the supervision, inspection, urging, and assessment of grassroots health units that meet standards as well as strengthen coordination with provincial departments and branches to advise the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and Provincial People's Committee on investment strategies for disadvantaged communes, not stopping at building health stations that meet the criteria, Nghe An Health Sector... Believe that, with the consensus of the people, the high determination of local authorities and the efforts of the health sector, our province will have many communes that meet the criteria, health stations that meet "standards in the hearts of the people" - high professional qualifications, good service spirit, taking patients as the center.

Thanh Son