Nghe An is developing a fair, high-quality, and efficient healthcare system.

Leaders from the Department of Health visited and presented gifts to patients.

Many outstanding achievements

Thanks to the attention of the Party and State, the Ministry of Health, the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, the Provincial People's Committee, and various departments and agencies, in 2019, the Nghe An health sector successfully fulfilled its targets in protecting, caring for, and improving the health of the people. Specifically, during the year, although many localities nationwide experienced major outbreaks, Nghe An, thanks to proactive prevention and control measures, did not experience any major or dangerous epidemics. Only a few minor outbreaks occurred in the province, but they were promptly detected, contained, and controlled.

With concerted efforts to overcome difficulties, the health sector has achieved and surpassed all key targets set, such as population and family planning, reproductive health care, HIV/AIDS prevention and control, tuberculosis control, and malaria control. Basic statutory targets have all been met and exceeded: the number of doctors per 10,000 people reached 8.2; the percentage of commune health stations with doctors reached 90%; the ratio of hospital beds per 10,000 people reached 34; the birth rate decreased by 0.3‰; and the rate of malnutrition among children under 5 years old was below 17%...

Leaders of the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Health inspected the epidemic prevention and control work at the Northwest Regional General Hospital.

In 2019, Nghe An's health sector focused heavily on grassroots healthcare. The sector organized numerous inspection teams to visit 9 district health centers, 26 commune health stations, and several district-level hospitals. The inspections covered the development of model medicinal herb gardens, green, clean, and beautiful healthcare facilities; infection control, disease prevention, and management of non-communicable diseases; and re-evaluation of 93 communes that had met the Ministry's criteria for over 3 years. In addition, the sector invested in developing commune health stations in terms of infrastructure, equipment, and human resources to meet operational requirements.

To improve the quality of medical examination and treatment, the health sector has established a Quality Management Council, organized training activities, workshops, experience-sharing conferences, and 5S competitions (Sorting, Systematizing, Cleaning, Standardizing, and Sustaining). At this time, all public and private hospitals throughout the province have truly changed their mindset in implementing hospital quality management activities; the quality of medical examination and treatment has improved, and patient and healthcare worker satisfaction has significantly increased.

In healthcare facilities, the implementation of financial autonomy and accountability under Decree 43/2006/ND-CP has enabled these units to implement various measures to increase revenue and reduce expenses for investment and development. This has allowed them to research and apply many new techniques such as: neurovascular anastomosis, percutaneous lithotripsy using a small tunnel, joint replacement surgery, and advanced endoscopic surgery in cardiovascular, general, obstetrics, and ENT specialties.

Retrograde lithotripsy using Laser at Vinh City General Hospital. Photo: Tu Thanh.

A major success of the health sector this year was the reorganization of the organizational structure, streamlining the workforce and restructuring the civil servant and public employee staff to improve operational efficiency. Specifically, advice was given to the Provincial People's Committee to establish the Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Nghe An Dermatology Hospital, etc. The effectiveness of the work after the reorganization has been very good, especially at the Nghe An Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Difficulties and challenges

In recent times, the health sector in Nghe An has achieved many outstanding results, but the existing difficulties and challenges are considerable, especially at the present time. Currently, the biggest challenge for the Nghe An health sector is facing the risk of the Covid-19 pandemic. From the beginning of the year until now, there have been over 80,000 infected people worldwide, with more than 2,700 deaths. In Vietnam, there have been 16 cases, all of whom have recovered. In Nghe An, the disease is currently well controlled, with no cases detected. However, it must be said that the Covid-19 pandemic is becoming increasingly unpredictable. Besides China, South Korea has the highest and fastest-growing number of cases; some countries have a rapid death rate, such as Iran, Japan, and Italy…

Besides Covid-19, Nghe An's health sector is also facing many other difficulties and challenges. Disease patterns are changing, with non-communicable diseases tending to increase, posing a risk of outbreaks; new and unusual diseases are unpredictable and have high mortality rates. Meanwhile, local matching funds for the health and population target program are limited; implemented projects have had their funding reduced, affecting the deployment and operation of programs funded by those projects.

The challenges in medical examination and treatment are also significant. The management mechanism of social insurance is still not synchronized, leading to difficulties in the implementation of payments for patients; the development of expertise and technology at grassroots medical facilities has not kept pace with the medical needs of the people, especially in mountainous areas; the rate of patient referrals remains high, leading to higher treatment costs and increased use of the health insurance fund.

Determined to implement the solutions

As 2020 marks the final year of implementing the Resolution of the 18th Provincial Party Congress, the entire health sector of Nghe An will strive with the highest determination to achieve the set targets, continuing to steadfastly pursue the goal of a fair, high-quality, and efficient healthcare system.

Providing health check-ups for people in mountainous areas.

Given the complex and unpredictable developments of the Covid-19 pandemic, the health sector in particular, and the entire Party, army, and people in general, will continue to effectively carry out prevention and control work in accordance with the spirit of the Party, State, and Ministry of Health: Implementing disease prevention and control with the spirit of avoiding complacency, negligence, and surprise. The Nghe An health sector adheres closely to the principles of epidemic control: thorough prevention; early detection; immediate isolation; effective containment; and complete eradication.

In addition to the Covid-19 pandemic, in the coming period, the health sector will continue to focus on implementing preventive measures, forecasting, and closely monitoring diseases, especially outbreaks; promptly handling and controlling infectious diseases to prevent outbreaks and widespread transmission, especially dangerous and emerging infectious diseases; effectively carrying out immunization work to maintain a high rate of expanded immunization coverage; managing service immunization activities well; and strictly adhering to safe immunization procedures.

Leaders of Nghe An province inspect a quarantine area in response to the epidemic. (Photo: Archival image)

In healthcare, the sector will focus on improving the quality of medical examination and treatment services at all levels, especially high-tech techniques, ensuring that all citizens have convenient access to increasingly high-quality medical services; developing a healthcare system that is both specialized at provincial-level hospitals and specialized and accessible at the district and commune levels to reduce the burden on higher-level facilities... This year, the sector will advise on the development of the Project "Building and developing high-tech medical services to make Vinh City a regional medical center in the North Central region in the period 2021 - 2025", to be submitted to the Provincial People's Committee for approval and implementation.

Inspect the operations of private medical and pharmaceutical practices.

In other areas, the Nghe An Health Department will continue to strictly control the implementation of legal regulations on food safety, especially regulations on food safety conditions for collective kitchens, ready-made meal providers, and bottled water suppliers; promote activities to improve the quality of the population; maintain a reasonable birth rate, control the rapid increase in the sex ratio at birth, and meet the needs of people for reproductive health care and family planning services; strengthen inspections of professional regulations on pharmaceuticals at drug production, business, and usage facilities; and strengthen the quality testing of drugs and cosmetics.