A medical worker gives advice to a resident in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA) Deputy Minister of Health Do XuanTuyen said the Party, National Assembly, and Government have issued manypolicies to improve grassroots healthcare, includingDirective 06-CT/TW on consolidating grassroots healthcare, issued by the 9th Party Central Committee’s Secretariat onJanuary 22, 2002.
The Secretariat has assigned the ministry’s Party Civil Affairs Committee to drafta directive on developing grassroots healthcare in the new context. The draftshould be submitted to the Secretariat in May, he noted.
After 20 years of implementing Directive 06-CT/TW, Party committees andadministrations from the central to grassroots levels have showed considerableimprovements in the awareness of the importance of grassroots healthcare. Communities consider the consolidation of grassroots healthcareas a crucial task in socio-economic development plans.
A medical worker gives check-up to a patient at the Hospital of Traditional Medicine in Lai Chau province. (Photo: VNA) Those achievements were largelycontributed by the grassroots healthcare network, participants opined.
However, there remains certain shortcomings, they pointed out, elaborating thatgrassroots health services are focused on treatment while lacking due attentionto disease prevention, management, and early detection. The system is alsofacing numerous challenges such as rapid population aging, an increase innon-communicable diseases, and unpredictable developments of newepidemics.
They agreed on measures mentioned in the draft directive, including enhancingParty committees and administrations’ sense of responsibility, upgrading infrastructure, reforming communal-levelmedical facilities and financial mechanism, increasing manpowerfor grassroots healthcare, and stepping up health education./.
VNA
