Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has requested the health sector intensify its preventive measures against disease epidemics and improve the overall quality of the national healthcare system.

Addressing the Health Ministry’s online conference to discuss its 2015 tasks on January 21, the Deputy PM urged thorough implementation of a plan to reduce overloading at hospitals in the year.

He stressed the need to examine reasons causing hospital overloading such as those related to the payment of medical insurance and varied management methods across hospitals, among others.

Additionally, the ministry should pay more attention to capacity building and assessing the quality of medical personnel, while promoting cooperation with another ministries and sectors in the fields, Dam noted.

The Deputy PM also asked localities nationwide to collaborate on expanding health insurance coverage, stressing that a strong health insurance system will contribute to strengthening the national healthcare system and bringing improved medical services to the public.

Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien urged hospital directors to reduce overloading at their hospitals, cease the practice of bed-sharing, and take measures to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment. According to the ministry, 13 central hospitals, including nine in Hanoi, have pledged to end bed-sharing.

She also requested the sector to keep a close watch on the global spread of diseases while developing action plans for the prevention and elimination of any threats.

The Minister reported the sector’s significant 2014 achievements, including utilising a new method to evaluate the quality of hospitals based on patient-centred principles. Administrative procedures were also reformed, cutting down patient wait times by nearly one hour.
Vietnamese doctors applied new advanced techniques in 2014, including robotic surgery and stem cell transplants for cancer treatment. Technological transfer was carried out with numerous satellite hospitals, helping to reduce the rate of patients transferred to national hospitals to 30 percent.-VNA

In 2015 and beyond to 2020, the sector will focus on preventing the spread of diseases and deploying effective national target programmes on health, she said.

The sector proposed the Government and the National Assembly invest in urgent hospital projects and medical stations, especially those in remote and mountainous areas.