Nghe An: Over 2,090 billion VND needed to develop grassroots healthcare network

((Baonghean.vn) – To implement the Project “Building and developing the grassroots health network in the new situation” in Nghe An province in the period of 2017 - 2025, Nghe An Department of Health estimates that it needs over 2,090 billion VND.

The information was given at a meeting to listen to and give opinions on the draft plan to implement the Project organized by the People's Committee on the afternoon of June 8. Comrade Le Minh Thong - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the meeting.

Comrade Le Minh Thong - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested the Department of Health to develop a plan with specific goals based on the actual situation each year. At the same time, there must be a resource plan attached. Photo: Thanh Son

Pursuant to Decision No. 2348/QD-TTg dated December 5, 2016 of the Prime Minister approving the "Project on Building and Developing the Grassroots Health Network in the New Situation" and related documents and instructions of the Ministry of Health and the Provincial People's Committee, Nghe An Department of Health has developed a draft Plan to implement the Project in Nghe An province for the period 2017 - 2025 and has sought comments from health sectors and units.

The draft states: In Nghe An, at the district level, there are currently 12 medical centers performing both medical examination and treatment functions and preventive medicine; 9 medical centers performing preventive medicine functions; 7 district general hospitals; 2 regional general hospitals; 8 regional general clinics. At the commune level, there are currently 480 commune, ward and town health stations. The proportion of villages, hamlets and villages with medical staff is 98%.

Endoscopic surgery for a patient at Thanh Chuong General Hospital. Photo: Thanh Son.

In general, the grassroots health network in Nghe An has been constantly strengthened; facilities and equipment have been invested in. Hospitals and medical centers with district-level beds have implemented the district-level technical list at an average of 48.7%. Commune health stations have implemented the technical list at an average of 33.6%. 90% of communes have doctors working... By the end of 2016, the whole province had 397/480 communes, wards and towns meeting the National Criteria for Commune Health.

Grassroots health care has been active and proactive in doing a good job of preventive medicine; increasingly responding better to the work of protecting, caring for and improving people's health at the grassroots level and providing primary health care.

However, the current grassroots healthcare system has many shortcomings and limitations: the organization of the grassroots healthcare system is always changing, the model is not unified across the province, there are many focal points, difficult to manage; human resources do not meet the requirements according to regulations; investment resources are still limited, facilities and equipment at some units do not meet the requirements for medical examination and treatment; Human resources for preventive healthcare and implementation of national target programs on healthcare are still lacking and weak...

The plan to implement Decision 2348/QD-TTg sets out the goal of improving the capacity of the grassroots health system at district, commune and village levels, meeting the requirements of the task of protecting and improving people's health in the new situation in accordance with the goals, contents and roadmap approved by the Prime Minister.

Checking eyesight for people at Dien Van Commune Health Station. Photo: Thanh Son

The draft proposes five implementation solutions, including: Strengthening and perfecting the organization of the grassroots health network; innovating and improving the efficiency of grassroots health activities; enhancing training and improving the quality of human resources; innovating the financial mechanism for grassroots health activities; investing in infrastructure and equipment.

The total estimated cost of implementing the project is 2,090.7 billion VND, of which the cost of infrastructure investment is 1,225.391 billion VND, and the cost of medical equipment investment is 864.679 billion VND. The cost of implementation comes from the central, provincial, district, city and town budgets.

At the meeting, representatives of leaders of some departments and branches commented: The project has a large scope of activities and a relatively long implementation roadmap, so it is necessary to divide it into time frames associated with specific content so that when it is implemented, it has high feasibility, avoiding overlapping segments leading to unnecessary disruptions in the innovation process.

Concluding the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Minh Thong acknowledged the comments of the meeting participants and assigned the Department of Health to coordinate with relevant units to carefully review and evaluate the current status of the grassroots health network, ensuring that when the Project is issued and implemented, it will meet the development requirements of the health sector. Comrade Le Minh Thong emphasized: The Department of Health needs to develop a plan with specific goals each year based on the actual situation each year, as well as have an accompanying resource plan.

Thanh Son