An online seminar on human resources training for the healthcare sector in 2009 was jointly held by the Health Ministry and the military telecoms corporation, Viettel, on April 23.

Opening the first ever online seminar with 63 provinces and cities nationwide, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien stated that to care better for people’s health, the medical sector needs to upgrade its human resources, medicament and equipment.

Human resources in the healthcare sector remains an outstanding problem at all levels, especially in remote and underdeveloped areas, she said. The sector should expand its training by increasing the involvement of students, diversifying the kinds of training and investing in its infrastructure, she added.

Prof. Dr. Truong Viet Dung, director of the Department for Science and Training said that the country currently has 6.5 doctors for every 10,000 people. However, there are only 2.11 doctors per 10,000 people in the Mekong Delta, while many provinces in other regions have 9 doctors per 10,000 people.

During the online seminar, Lai Chau province reported that it has 3.5 doctors per 10,000 people but 98 communes have no doctors of their own.

Lai Chau proposed to set a national target in human resources training for the healthcare sector, particularly training students from ethnic groups; defining the tasks and responsibilities of students after graduation; and encouraging students to study preventive medicine, HIV/AID prevention and treatment and paediatrics.

Vinh Phuc province also suggested a number of solutions for human resource development such as stricter control of the quality of training.

The Central Highlands province of Dak Nong said that it was necessary to enhance the training of medical students at tertiary and postgraduate levels according to demands from individual localities as well as issuing a policy that ensures medical graduates work for at least two-years at the grassroots level./.