ASEAN member countries will give priority to strengthening preventivehealth services, as part of efforts to tackle infectious diseases andmedical environment disasters, heard a medical partnership group meetingheld in Hanoi on November 26.
The meeting, themed post-2015health development agenda, was to discuss the post-2015 healthdevelopment agenda, Vietnam and ASEAN’s orientations to medicaldevelopment beyond 2015, and update a global document on internationalmedical partnership.
Specifically, Vietnam will prioritisemedical check-ups and treatment, maternal and child health, populationand family planning, national coverage of health insurance; medicalfinance and planning, food safety and hygiene, pharmaceuticals andtraditional medicine, HIV/AIDS and legal regulations.
Inpreventive health services, Vietnam has worked closely with countriesaround the world to put infectious diseases under control, enhance themanagement and use of vaccines, and adopt technological advances, amongothers.
Reviewing its track-record of providing medicalcheck-ups and treatment, the country is taking steps to ease hospitalovercrowding, design the model of family clinics, and upgrade medicalservices at the grass-root levels, especially in island districts.
The meeting was co-chaired by Deputy Health Minister Le Quang Cuongand acting chief representative of the World Health Organisation inVietnam, Jeffrey Kobza.
Participating ASEAN member countriesagreed to promote healthy lifestyle, cope with emerging threats andrisks while facilitating access to medical services and ensuring foodsafety.-VNA