The EU has provided aid to Vietnam's health sector for more than 20 years and intends to continue the support for at least another three years in bilateral aid, Franz Jessen, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam, said.
Speaking at a two-day workshop to review five years of the EU-funded Health Sector Capacity Support Project (HSCSP) that opened in Hanoi on September 16, he said, "we expect in October or November this year to sign a major operation of 114 million euros (148 million USD) in the hope of improving the quality of healthcare services in the poor provinces of Vietnam."
HSCSP is an additional contribution by the EU to help the Ministry of Health strengthen institutional capacity for good governance in the sector and improved health service delivery.
The programme is designed to assist government reforms in sector management, paving the way for a programme-based approach for co-operation between the MoH and the EU and interested development partners.
It focuses on designing, piloting, and testing reform tools at the ministry and the health departments in the provinces of Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, and Ha Nam while sharing information with 15 partner provinces.
"The HSCSP funded by the EU is one of the last technical support projects … in the transitional period to sector budget support," Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said.
"The project focuses on supporting important reforms in the health sector towards the general objective of improving the health status of people in Vietnam, especially those who are poor and near poor, as a contribution to poverty reduction and attainment of health-related Millennium Development Goals.
In five years of implementation the programme has yielded encouraging results and the MoH now plans to replicate them nation-wide.
"[With] the health sector focusing on reforms to renovate health management for improvement of service quality, particularly the quality of care at local levels, the support from the European Community is a valuable contribution … in efforts to further strengthen the quality of services and expand equal access to quality health services for people in Vietnam."
At the workshop, People's Committee leaders of the three provinces where the programme was piloted signed MoUs with the ministry for commitments to maintain the sustainability of its results.-VNA
Speaking at a two-day workshop to review five years of the EU-funded Health Sector Capacity Support Project (HSCSP) that opened in Hanoi on September 16, he said, "we expect in October or November this year to sign a major operation of 114 million euros (148 million USD) in the hope of improving the quality of healthcare services in the poor provinces of Vietnam."
HSCSP is an additional contribution by the EU to help the Ministry of Health strengthen institutional capacity for good governance in the sector and improved health service delivery.
The programme is designed to assist government reforms in sector management, paving the way for a programme-based approach for co-operation between the MoH and the EU and interested development partners.
It focuses on designing, piloting, and testing reform tools at the ministry and the health departments in the provinces of Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, and Ha Nam while sharing information with 15 partner provinces.
"The HSCSP funded by the EU is one of the last technical support projects … in the transitional period to sector budget support," Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said.
"The project focuses on supporting important reforms in the health sector towards the general objective of improving the health status of people in Vietnam, especially those who are poor and near poor, as a contribution to poverty reduction and attainment of health-related Millennium Development Goals.
In five years of implementation the programme has yielded encouraging results and the MoH now plans to replicate them nation-wide.
"[With] the health sector focusing on reforms to renovate health management for improvement of service quality, particularly the quality of care at local levels, the support from the European Community is a valuable contribution … in efforts to further strengthen the quality of services and expand equal access to quality health services for people in Vietnam."
At the workshop, People's Committee leaders of the three provinces where the programme was piloted signed MoUs with the ministry for commitments to maintain the sustainability of its results.-VNA
