Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has urged Central Highlands provinces to accelerate the completion of construction on a regional general hospital and continue improving the grassroots health system to ensure proper health checks and treatment for locals.

Addressing the ministry’s conference on January 27 in Dak Lak province, Minister Tien stressed the need to increase the quality of preventive medicine centres, disease control and quarantine stations at the provincial level and along the border, as well as strengthening food safety inspections, particularly imports.

Priority should be given to investing in medical equipment, improving the capacity of provincial health staff, and drafting policies to attract health workers to remote and ethnic minority areas, she added.

At the conference, participants proposed the Government allocate increased capital to develop health systems in the region and invest in several hospital projects in newly-established districts.

The Central Highlands consists of Lam Dong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Nong and Dak Lak provinces. In recent years, the quality of health checks and treatment has increased thanks to joint efforts by the Government, Ministry of Health, and local authorities. The number of people with access to quality health services rose from 8.8 million in 2012 to 9.1 million in 2013.

By the end of 2014, the region had 878 medical facilities with an average ratio of 6.8 doctors to every 10,000 people.-VNA