Ministry of Health: Taking decisive action to ensure food safety and hygiene during Tet holiday.

The main topics of the "People Ask, Minister Answers" program on the evening of December 28th included pressing issues closely related to people's lives, such as what benefits they will receive when the amended Health Insurance Law comes into effect at the beginning of 2015, and how to ensure food safety for consumers during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien

- Minister, the amended Health Insurance Law will come into effect on January 1, 2015, and a particularly notable new feature is the abolition of co-payment for the poor and a reduction in payments for the near-poor... How has the Ministry of Health prepared for the implementation of the Law to meet the expectations of the people?

Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien:Following the enactment of the Law, decrees and circulars guiding its implementation have been fully issued and are currently in the training and dissemination phase through mass media, so that people can see the benefits, responsibilities, and advantages of health insurance policy for the people, especially those in disadvantaged areas.

To move towards universal health insurance and encourage people to participate in health insurance, it is crucial for the healthcare sector to improve the quality of healthcare services and reduce hospital overcrowding.

Over the past period, the implementation of the hospital overcrowding reduction project has initially yielded clear results, with the average number of hospital beds increasing to 28.4 beds per 10,000 people, and some central hospitals will announce that the practice of sharing beds will no longer exist…

The health sector has also decisively directed its subordinate agencies to reduce administrative procedures when people participate in health insurance examinations and treatments, thereby reducing the average waiting time for examinations by 50 minutes.

The sector places special emphasis on the conduct of healthcare workers to satisfy patients and has established a nationwide hotline to address public concerns.

The entire sector has strictly and thoroughly handled, based on regulations and codes of professional conduct, approximately 150 medical staff members through various forms of disciplinary action such as dismissal, termination of employment, warnings, reprimands, transfers, and deductions from bonuses, contributing to raising the professional ethics of medical staff and increasing public satisfaction.

Another point is the increased benefits for health insurance participants. With the new Health Insurance Law, poor people will benefit the most from the elimination of co-payments; in addition, inter-provincial access to healthcare services will be possible, allowing for technical inter-provincial access between communes and districts within the province.

For the poor, living in particularly disadvantaged areas, border regions, and islands, when transportation is opened, including provincial and central-level routes, they will not have to pay co-payments.

- During the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, what directives will the Minister issue to control food safety and hygiene and ensure the health of the people?

Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien:Food safety and hygiene is a pressing issue requiring close coordination among relevant ministries and agencies. The inter-ministerial steering committee comprises three ministries: Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Industry and Trade, along with other relevant ministries and agencies, to coordinate management, inspection, and supervision.

Currently, the Central Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee on Food Safety and Hygiene and authorities at all levels have organized widespread dissemination of information and training for food producers and businesses; requiring them to comply with the Law and current regulations because the law is supreme and the health of the people is paramount.

In addition, it is necessary to strengthen inspection and supervision of food safety and hygiene, and when violations are detected, they must be strictly dealt with. Violating establishments will be severely punished with fines up to 100-200 million VND, seven times the value of the goods…; simultaneously, the names of the violating production facilities and products will be publicly announced through mass media to prevent people from using those products; or the product's circulation license will be revoked.

These solutions will compel producers and businesses to comply with regulations in order to bring the best products to the market. Experience shows that with each rigorous inspection and enforcement campaign, violations have gradually decreased.

- How does the Minister assess the quality of food safety and hygiene inspections at local levels and in various establishments?

Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien:Despite being reinforced, the food safety inspection force remains insufficient. Recently, the Ministry of Health submitted to the Government a plan to strengthen the health inspection team, including food safety inspectors, and to build up a network of food safety collaborators.

This inspection force has been established not only at the district and county levels but also at the commune and ward levels to conduct thorough inspections and strictly penalize violations. With these measures, the Ministry of Health believes that food safety and hygiene will gradually improve.

- Regarding foods that pose potential health risks, what decisive directives has the Minister issued to ensure that people can celebrate Tet with greater peace of mind, Minister?

Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien:To further enhance food safety during the Tet holiday for the people, the Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee will organize more rigorous inspections and checks, with a larger number of teams and a higher number of samples tested, especially in large cities and border provinces with food import and export activities; at the same time, it will strictly and thoroughly handle violations and widely disseminate information through mass media about products and manufacturers that violate food hygiene and safety regulations.

Thank you very much, Minister.

According to Vietnam+