General Secretary: Strive to ensure that every citizen receives a health check-up at least once a year.

On the afternoon of April 15th, General Secretary To Lam met with veteran revolutionary cadres, meritorious individuals, and exemplary policy beneficiary families to commemorate the 50th anniversary of national reunification (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025).

The General Secretary expressed his emotion at meeting with veteran revolutionaries, Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, Heroes of the People's Armed Forces, Labor Heroes, veterans, wounded and sick soldiers, families of martyrs, and those who have made contributions to the revolution...

Today's and future generations must continue to express their gratitude and remember the immense contributions of the Party, President Ho Chi Minh, millions of soldiers, heroic martyrs, and people from all walks of life who dedicated the most precious things in their lives and were ready to sacrifice their lives for an independent, free, unified, prosperous, and strong Vietnam...

Commune-level authorities must handle all administrative procedures related to the people.

Summarizing the country's achievements, the General Secretary announced the good news that, starting from the 2025-2026 school year, the State will provide free tuition for children from kindergarten to high school. Many social policies will continue to be implemented to improve the daily quality of life for the people, especially for workers, the elderly, vulnerable groups in society, and those who have contributed to the nation.

Noting that many citizens are supported by health insurance, the General Secretary stated the goal of "striving to ensure that every citizen receives a health check-up at least once a year"; and striving to raise the average life expectancy of the people from 74.5 years to 80 years by 2045-2050.

The Central Committee has identified three key tasks to be implemented from now until 2030. These are: maintaining a peaceful, secure, and orderly environment for national development; achieving rapid and sustainable socio-economic development; and improving the lives of the people, especially workers, to meet their increasingly higher material and spiritual needs, all for the people.

"The recent 11th Central Committee Conference is considered a historic conference in our country's revolutionary journey. The Central Committee unanimously agreed on the contents related to the reorganization of the political system's apparatus and the reorganization of administrative units of the two-tiered local government system with a long-term vision for at least 100 years, ensuring the formation and expansion of a new economic, social, and cultural development space suitable for the country's development and integration," the General Secretary said.

In this new model of local government, there are two levels: the provincial level (provinces and centrally-administered cities) and the commune level (communes, wards, and special administrative regions under the province or city).

After the merger, the number of provincial-level administrative units will be reduced to 34 provinces and cities, including 28 provinces and 6 centrally-administered cities. The number of commune-level administrative units will be reduced by approximately 60-70% compared to the current number, and there will be no district-level administrative units.

According to the General Secretary, with the new administrative organizational model, the provincial level is both the level for implementing the central government's guidelines and policies and the level for issuing policies within the province or city. In addition, the provincial level directly directs and manages the activities of the commune level within its jurisdiction.

At the commune level, policies are primarily implemented at the central and provincial levels. Communes are also increasingly empowered with decentralization and the authority to issue legal regulations to decide on the organization and implementation of laws within their jurisdiction and to make decisions on matters within their authority.

The General Secretary stated that all administrative procedures and issues related to the people must be resolved at the commune level. People do not need to go to the province or the central government to handle their affairs.

"If all the people's problems are not solved at the commune level, then no other administrative level can solve them. All administrative procedures are handled at the commune level. Recently, many things have been reformed, and the people agree and support them," the General Secretary shared.

The General Secretary cited the example of education, where the commune chairman must manage and know immediately how many children in the commune are of school age. According to state regulations, children of school age must attend school, and the state should even provide free education.

"Communes must ensure they have enough schools and enough teachers; they no longer have to wait or request the Ministry of Education and Training to allocate teacher staffing quotas for recruitment exams," the General Secretary stated.

Regarding healthcare, the General Secretary stated that "every citizen should have at least one health check-up," and that local authorities must be aware of the health status of their people. Local authorities must know how many people in their commune suffer from diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, and eye problems. Based on this information, they can develop plans for training doctors, purchasing medicine, and providing healthcare and protection.

"Anything that the commune hasn't done for the people, the task is not yet complete. The commune must be close to the people, understand their needs," the General Secretary demanded. If a problem cannot be solved, the commune must report it and make a decision; it cannot leave the people to go to the province on their own.

Wastefulness is a very alarming problem.

Regarding preparations for the 14th National Congress, the General Secretary stated that the draft content of the documents has been basically completed. These documents will be sent to Party organizations for feedback and then submitted to the general public for their input.

"How can we ensure that Party documents truly resonate with the people, representing their legitimate rights and interests, and contributing to their freedom, prosperity, and happiness? How can these documents serve as a guiding principle for the country's increasing stability, development, and improvement of people's lives?" the General Secretary emphasized.

Regarding the fight against corruption and negative practices, the General Secretary stated that the Politburo and the Secretariat unanimously agreed on the principle of strengthening the fight against corruption and negative practices, and decided to add the fight against waste to the scope of combating wastefulness, creating a trio that must be eliminated: "corruption, wastefulness, and negative practices." This decision creates a significant deterrent and warning effect.

The General Secretary warned that wastefulness is a very alarming problem, and in some respects, it causes even greater harm than corruption and negative practices.

During the process of organizing Party congresses at all levels, rearranging and reorganizing the administrative system, personnel organization, relocating agency headquarters, and eliminating district-level congresses while reorganizing commune-level congresses, the possibility of "fishing in troubled waters" and "clashing of ambiguity" cannot be ruled out.