Monitoring the use of ODA capital in the health sector

The delegation inspected Dien Chau District Medical Center, a unit under the Department of Health, which was separated and established in 2006 and has benefited from the North Central Coast Medical Support Project since 2010.

The delegation supervised the exchange of staff from Dien Chau District Medical Center to effectively use equipment invested from projects using ODA capital. Photo: Thanh Le

The project has supported investment in building offices and professional rooms with an area of ​​1,270m2.², 26 offices have been handed over to the unit for management and use since December 2012. Support for a specialized FOR pickup truck worth nearly 1.4 billion VND has been put into use since December 2012.

The Center has received 28 types of equipment and assets, transferred 1 shaker, 1 refractometer, 1 stereo microscope; the remaining 25 types of equipment are managed and used effectively.

In addition, the project also supported 600 1.5l sharp waste containers; 15 1.5l medical waste containers; 4 240l waste transport containers; 6 sets of personal protective equipment, creating conditions for the unit to perform well in the management, classification, transportation and treatment of waste to ensure safety in accordance with regulations.

The Supervisory Team inspected the actual operation of the solid waste treatment system at Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital. Photo: Thanh Le

For the Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital, in 2017, the hospital invested in a project on a solid medical waste treatment system using wet steaming technology integrated with shredding waste in the same treatment compartment with a budget of nearly 5.9 billion VND; a liquid waste treatment system with a budget of nearly 8.1 billion VND from the Hospital Waste Treatment Support Project funded by the World Bank.

The World Bank-funded waste treatment system contributes to solving environmental pollution at Nghe An Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital. Photo: Thanh Le

The hospital has taken samples to check the efficiency of the treatment system once a month and the results meet the standards. Investing in a waste treatment system has helped the hospital to effectively ensure environmental hygiene.

Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital is one of 10 hospitals nationwide that benefit from the Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital Component Project under the Provincial and Regional Hospital Development Project (Phase II) using loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with a total investment of nearly 150 billion VND to invest in modern equipment and machinery for medical examination and treatment.

The National Assembly's Supervisory Delegation inspected medical examination and treatment equipment at the Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital. Photo: Thanh Le

Up to now, all equipment invested by ODA capital from JICA Japan has been installed in departments and rooms, promptly put into use, promoted efficiency, contributing to serving well the work of medical examination and treatment for people. Many new techniques have been deployed thanks to new equipment from this project, reducing the rate of patients being transferred to central hospitals.

In particular, the hospital is equipped with a number of equipment for the first time, such as: CT scanner, Panorama X-ray machine, breast X-ray machine, real-time PCR system, gastroduodenal endoscopy system (children), ENT endoscopy system, which has effectively supported the hospital in performing many more technical services.

Working with Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, the National Assembly's monitoring delegation requested the hospital to strengthen management and effectively use equipment invested from ODA capital of Japan's JICA. Photo: Thanh Le

The Monitoring Team recommends that medical centers and hospitals pay attention to training to improve capacity, strengthen management of medical staff; effectively and properly use equipment benefited from projects using ODA capital to meet the people's increasingly high and diverse needs for health protection, care and improvement.

* Afternoon of March 6,The monitoring delegation of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation led by Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hien - Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation had a working session with the Department of Health.on the implementation of policies and laws on management and use of foreign loans (ODA) for the period 2011-2016 in Nghe An province.

The Supervisory Delegation worked with the Department of Health. Photo: Thanh Le

In the period 2011-2016, Nghe An Department of Health has 4 projects using ODA loans (loans with low interest rates), which are: Strengthening the provincial health system; Supporting health care in the North Central provinces; Developing provincial and regional hospitals (phase 2) and Supporting hospital waste treatment.

The implementation of policies and laws on the management and use of foreign loans is carried out in accordance with current regulations. Annually, based on the project's operational plan, the Project Management Board prepares a plan for the use of foreign capital and sends it to relevant levels and sectors for review and approval.

The disbursement of ODA loans is carried out in accordance with the instructions of each project and current regulations (in which the two Projects Strengthening the Provincial Health System and the Project Supporting Health in the North Central Provinces have ended).

Basically, the funds for project activities are arranged in a timely manner and meet the requirements as prescribed. The counterpart funds are mainly for regular expenses; counterpart funds for tax payments; infrastructure repairs, etc. Every year and at the end of the project, there are audits, inspections, and checks to evaluate the effectiveness of project implementation.

However, up to now, the North Central Provinces Health Support Project alone, the local counterpart capital to pay off construction debt at 7 district health centers, is still short of 2.4 billion VND even though the project ended in 2016.

The Department of Health reported that there were still some difficulties in the implementation process, such as changes and adjustments during the project development process for appraisal, so the time from project initiation to implementation took a long time. The reason was due to differences in procedures between Vietnam and the donor. The local counterpart fund allocation was sometimes not timely, affecting the disbursement of ODA capital.

According to the assessment of the health sector, projects invested from ODA loans for the health sector of Nghe An contribute to improving the quality of medical examination, treatment and health care for the people.

Through inspecting a number of units and working with the Department of Health, the Monitoring Team noted: Benefiting from projects from ODA loans has given medical facilities and hospitals access to modern equipment, performing many high-tech services in medical examination and treatment, solving medical waste problems, ensuring the environment... meeting the people's increasing demand for quality medical services.

Acting Director of the Department of Health Duong Dinh Chinh affirmed that the industry will strengthen the management and effective use of equipment invested from ODA capital. Photo: Thanh Le

The monitoring team also noted that the health sector should always improve the management and use of medical equipment in a strict and effective manner. Expeditiously carry out procedures for payment and settlement of completed projects; carry out maintenance and repair work well to promote the sustainable effectiveness of projects; and create a basis for sponsors to continue supporting other projects in the future.

Along with that, build a plan and roadmap to implement commitments according to regulations and prepare to launch a new phase.

Thanh Le