Prime Minister attends ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting

This morning (September 18), Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended and delivered a speech at the 12th ASEAN Health Ministers' Meeting with the theme "Better Health for the ASEAN Community after 2015".

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung speaks at the ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting.

This is the first time the ASEAN Health Ministers' Meeting has been held in Vietnam with the participation of nearly 200 international delegates including Ministers and Heads of Delegations from 10 ASEAN countries and partner countries such as China, Korea, Japan, ASEAN Secretary General, representatives of international organizations, etc.

Speaking at the Conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung emphasized that taking care of and improving people's health is a very important issue, developing human resources, creating momentum for rapid and sustainable development of ASEAN as well as of each member country.

Over the past time, with great efforts and determination, ASEAN has overcome many difficulties and challenges, completing over 80% of the goals of building the Community, including the important contributions of ASEAN Health Ministers with appropriate and effective strategic orientations and policies on providing health services and health care for people; and promoting cooperation with partners, China, Japan, and South Korea.

According to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, after nearly 30 years of Doi Moi, Vietnam has achieved many important achievements in socio-economic development. From a poor, underdeveloped country, devastated and heavily affected by wars against foreign invaders, Vietnam has risen to become a middle-income developing country, increasingly integrating internationally and entering a new stage of development.

The work of protecting, caring for and improving people's health in Vietnam has achieved many important results and has completed many of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals on poverty reduction, reducing malnutrition rates, child mortality rates, and improving maternal health. Disease prevention has been strengthened, preventing major epidemics from occurring. The effectiveness of the primary health care network and grassroots health care has been improved and consolidated. Up to now, Vietnam has had nearly 3/4 of its population participating in health insurance. The health workforce has developed quite rapidly in both quantity and quality. According to some international statistics, the health indicators of Vietnamese people are better than those of many countries with the same per capita income.

Prime Minister with ASEAN Health Ministers.

“The above achievements are the result of Vietnam’s great efforts and endeavors, but also the valuable assistance of the international community. On this occasion, on behalf of the Government and people of Vietnam, I would like to sincerely thank and look forward to continuing to receive cooperation and support from friends, international organizations, ASEAN countries and the world,” said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

However, Vietnam, like some other ASEAN member countries, is facing many difficulties and challenges. The need to protect, care for and improve health is increasing while national resources are limited. Climate change and environmental pollution are having adverse impacts on people's health. Many strange diseases have appeared for which no cure or treatment mechanism has been found. The disease structure is changing, the incidence of some serious diseases is increasing... These difficulties and challenges are threatening the development of the quality of human resources and the future and race of nations and ethnic groups.

According to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, to build an ASEAN Community that is people-oriented and for the people, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation in building a universal health coverage network, ensuring that all people have easy access to quality health services. In the immediate future, priority should be given to vulnerable groups, people living in remote, mountainous and island areas.

The complicated developments of dangerous epidemics in the region require even closer coordination.

The complicated developments of infectious diseases such as Ebola, H7N9, Mec-CoVi... in the world and diseases with high prevalence in the ASEAN region such as dengue fever, hand, foot and mouth disease, rabies, drug-resistant malaria... require close and effective coordination. At the same time, we need to take advantage of medical support from dialogue partners China, Japan, and Korea; and promote cooperation with other ASEAN partners.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also said that the Conference took place at the right time for ASEAN Health Ministers to discuss and propose priority orientations and effective cooperation mechanisms to successfully achieve the goal of better health for the ASEAN Community after 2015.

The conference, which will last until September 19, will focus on the following main contents: Strengthening primary health care towards universal health coverage; Better health for the ASEAN Community after 2015; Strengthening primary health care in preventing non-communicable diseases; Multi-sectoral coordination in preventing emerging infectious diseases;...

The success of this Conference will contribute to further strengthening the connections and effective cooperation in the region, towards a united, united and identity-rich ASEAN Community, with people at the center, better health and a constantly improved quality of life.

According to chinhphu.vn