A number of activities will be held to respond to the Vietnamese Doctors’ Day (February 27), said Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Long at a press conference in Hanoi on February 20.

The health sector will launch a project encouraging young voluntary doctors to work in 62 poor districts of the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai , and hold an online conference setting out the sector’s 2014 tasks with the participation of leaders and officials nationwide.

The sector focuses on bettering its healthcare system and services at all grassroots level, enhancing medical staff training, and simplifying administrative procedures while raising the public awareness of healthcare.

In 2013, the United Nations acknowledged Vietnam’s success in fulfilling its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the field.

Latest data from the UN shows that the rate of malnourishment in children under five is declining by around 1.5 percent a year in Vietnam .

Despite encountering numerous challenges posed by infectious and new and unpredictable outbreaks, last year the health sector took swift measures to prevent the spread of diseases, as well as ensured environmental sanitation and intensified monitoring work.-VNA