Vietnam allocates appropriate investment resources for primary health care

AfternoonOn September 20, at the Government Headquarters, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Dr. Shin Young-soo, Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region, who is on a working visit to Vietnam.

The Prime Minister appreciated the WHO's leadership role in global health forums and thanked the WHO, including Mr. Shin Young-soo, for their effective cooperation and support for the development of Vietnam's health sector and people's health care.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Dr. Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, who is on a working visit to Vietnam. Photo: VGP/Quang Hieu

The Prime Minister emphasized that Vietnam has effectively implemented projects using international ODA aid for health care, such as investing in basic construction (building new and upgrading many training facilities, medical examination and treatment facilities, and preventive health facilities at all levels), purchasing equipment, supporting training, developing human resources for health, providing technical support, transferring technology, and conducting scientific research.

In the coming time, the Prime Minister proposed that WHO increase technical and financial support, as well as mobilize resources from development partners for Vietnam, especially in building health policies, preventing infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, improving health through improving lifestyles, strengthening the health system, and enhancing preparation, monitoring and response to public health issues.

“We have raised the issue of strongly socializing the health sector, but the State’s investment in health has not decreased. We are also interested in allocating appropriate investment resources to grassroots health care in difficult areas,” said the Prime Minister.

Emphasizing the importance of awareness among health workers, the Prime Minister said that recently, the Ministry of Health has widely launched a movement to improve medical ethics among medical staff and strictly handle violations by medical workers.

The Prime Minister also said that the Vietnamese Government is urgently developing a Master Plan to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and hopes to receive support from international organizations, especially the WHO.

For his part, Dr. Shin Young-soo said that Vietnam has achieved many impressive achievements in health development. Although the average income per capita is only about 2,000 USD per year, many achievements in health, especially average life expectancy, can be compared to countries with incomes of up to 20,000 USD.

Affirming that he will strengthen cooperation with Vietnam, the WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific hopes that the Vietnamese Government will pay attention to improving the healthcare system, increasing the coverage rate of health insurance, having reasonable investment policies for hospitals, as well as promoting investment in healthcare in the form of public-private partnership (PPP), mobilizing social contributions for the development of the healthcare sector.

According to Chinhphu.vn