About 130 family-doctor clinics will be set up over the next three years in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Hai Phong and the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Thua Thien- Hue, Khanh Hoa and Tien Giang.

The Ministry of Health’s family-doctor project will last until 2020. By 2015, the ministry projects that Hanoi and HCM City each will have 20-30 family-doctor clinics each.

The ministry plans to expand the model project nationwide after 2015.

Each family-doctor clinic will provide primary healthcare for up to 500 people and offer treatment for common diseases and ailments, rehabilitation services, and referrals to other hospitals.

Tran Quy Tuong, Deputy Head of the Ministry’s Health Examination and Treatment Management Department, said the country now had about 500 trained family doctors at grassroots hospitals. However, most of them do not work as family doctors.

Some family-doctor clinics operate in Hanoi, HCM City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Thua Thien-Hue and Khanh Hoa, but they do not offer the full services that such clinics typically offer.-VNA