The Ministry of Health opened a national meeting in the central city of Hue on Jan. 27 to review last year’s achievements and discuss major tasks in 2010.

At the meeting, health officials identified preventive healthcare and food safety and hygiene as the two main tasks for the year.

They also agreed that further efforts will be made to improve the quality of medical examinations and improve the healthcare infrastructure to reduce the overload situation at hospitals.

Investments will be increased for human resources training and scientific and technological research activities, said the meeting.

This year, the ministry will continue to work on the population and reproductive health strategy of the 2011-2020 period and the national target programme on reproductive health of the 2011-2015 period.

According to the ministry’s evaluation, for the first time over the past several years the health sector completed all targets set by the government in 2009 beyond expectations.

Healthcare facilities from the central to local levels were gradually upgraded. The country now has nearly 13,500 state healthcare establishments, over 100 private hospitals and over 35,000 private clinics.

In 2009, more than 115 million people underwent medical examinations and over 10 million others received treatment in hospital, which marks a year-on-year increases of 110 percent and 112 percent respectively.

Domestic hospitals are now capable of conducting complicated operations that require international techniques, such as kidney, cornea and liver transplants. Communicable diseases, including dengue fever and the A/H1N1 influenza, were contained during the year.

However, provincial preventive healthcare systems did not receive due investment, leading to shortages of qualified manpower as well as equipment and facilities. Therefore, poor people in remote areas still had difficulty accessing medical check-ups.

The meeting also highlighted shortcomings in the health sector in controlling food safety and hygiene./.