Minister of Health: Will 'eliminate' doctors with specialized training.

According to Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, the number of doctors and pharmacists will increase significantly compared to before, but quality will be tightened, gradually moving towards "eliminating" doctors who have completed specialized training.

Responding to questions from National Assembly deputies on the afternoon of April 1st, the Minister of Health stated that with the current training scale, the number of doctors and pharmacists will increase significantly in the future. The issue is quality, and the Ministry will tighten training standards in the near future.

"We will gradually reduce and eventually discontinue the integrated (specialized) training program for doctors to focus on formal training. We maintained this program in the past because without it, there wouldn't be enough doctors for district and commune levels. This discontinuation must also follow a roadmap to avoid disruption," she said.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien: It's impossible to say that drug prices are too high. Photo: Minh Thang

According to Ms. Tien, in 2015, the number of pharmacists and doctors graduating will almost double compared to previous years. She worries about a surplus of personnel at higher-level hospitals because no one wants to work at lower-level hospitals after graduation.

Choose Minister Tien, not Minister Tuan Anh!

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Committee, said that if the Standing Committee of the National Assembly were to hold a "referendum," he would choose Minister Tien instead of Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh.

According to Mr. Phuc, the government is currently having a lively discussion about whether, given the current situation, it is better to invest in ASIAD or to allocate resources to other, more practical areas.

"If given the choice, I personally think we need to continue investing in the healthcare sector. But based on voter feedback, I see that the investment is not synchronized. We invest in hospitals but lack equipment, and when we have equipment, we lack doctors. In many localities equipped with modern equipment, doctors can hardly use it. How can we improve this?" Mr. Phuc asked.

According to a report by Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong, in the past three years, the total investment capital in the healthcare sector has reached 30,591 billion VND.

"It's impossible to say that drug prices are too high."

Citing the Prime Minister's statement that "drug prices in hospitals must be brought down, otherwise the people will suffer too much," National Assembly Deputy Ha Thi Lan (Bac Giang) asked the Minister of Health about solutions to "cool down" this particular commodity.

Ms. Tien affirmed that "drug prices in Vietnam have been stable for a long time," lower than the CPI increase rate, ranking 9th out of 11 essential goods. The World Health Organization assessed that branded drugs in Vietnam have an average price increase. Compared to drugs in China and Thailand, drugs in Vietnam are "lower" in price.

"Therefore, it cannot be said that the price of medicines in Vietnam is too high," the Minister affirmed.

According to Ms. Tien, the issuance of the circular on drug bidding and price management has brought about "positive" signs such as a 15-30% reduction in drug purchases (under health insurance) compared to the previous period; the rate of using domestically produced drugs has doubled compared to 2013, while quality remains assured because they undergo rigorous testing before being put into circulation.

The amended Law on Bidding also includes a separate chapter on drug bidding. When the amended Law on Pharmaceuticals is presented to the National Assembly at the next session, there will be a breakthrough in the mechanism for managing and bidding for drugs.

Medical ethics have not seen significant improvement.

Responding to numerous questions about breakthrough solutions to improve medical ethics and reduce medical malpractice, the Minister of Health stated that this is a matter of concern for the entire sector and that while many solutions have been proposed, significant progress has yet to be made.

Regarding medical malpractice that has caused public outrage, Ms. Tien said that there are situations where medicine is powerless, such as complications due to objective factors. As for subjective factors, such as lack of ethics or professional responsibility, the Ministry of Health cannot promise when they will be completely eliminated, but can only offer ways to reduce them.

Concluding the questioning session with the Minister of Health, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung pointed out the challenges facing the health sector, such as overload, personnel shortages, and especially the decline in medical ethics, stating that "the recent incidents were not due to technical issues or a lack of resources, but rather to a lack of ethics."

According to the Chairman of the National Assembly, these challenges must be addressed through a socialist-oriented market economy – developing the medical sector with the principle of equal value to create competitiveness, and avoiding overloaded hospitals while still demanding medical ethics.

According to vietnamnet