Health Partnership Group meeting held in Hanoi

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Health Minister Dao Hong Lan, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thi Lien Huong and WHO Representative in Vietnam Angela Pratt co-chaired the Health Partnership Group meeting in Hanoi on April 21.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister Lan stressed the significance of the meeting in the context that countries around the world, including Vietnam, are overcoming consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to develop.

The Vietnamese health sector has received a lot of support and cooperation from international partners and friends, contributing to the success of disease control and and protecting the health of the Vietnamese people, she said, expressing her hope that such partnerships and cooperation will further deepen and become even more sustainable.

She said last year, the sector met 13 out of 16 targets assigned by the Vietnamese National Assembly and Government.

Amid common difficulties faced by the world after the pandemic, she said the Vietnamese health sector will strive towards the common goal of developing a fair, quality, efficient and sustainable health care system and effectively controlling COVID-19 and other emerging diseases.

The sector will focus on fine-tuning mechanisms and laws, improving hospital management capacity and the quality of health services, and gradually streamlining the health care system to be more effective and efficient. It will also propose policies to improve the welfare of medical staff, she said.

According to Lan, priority will be given to administrative reform in combination with the application of information technology and digital transformation.

Based on the overall goal, the sector will specify priorities for specific areas to implement in 2023 towards fulfilling its five-year plan.

Delegates at the event debated issues related to the health sector, including the prevention and control of COVID-19 and other diseases, aging population, grassroots health care and vaccination./.