A family doctor model will be trialed in eight localities nationwide from July 15, as part of the Health Ministry’s efforts to reduce overload currently hitting general hospitals nationwide.

Some 350 eye patients in remote areas of Tra Vinh province recently received free surgeries as part of the Mekong Delta locality’s progamme supporting visually impaired low-income people.

The central province of Khanh Hoa will cover all health insurance costs for local ethnic minority people who have not benefitted from existing support programmes in this field, the provincial People’s Council decided at its session on July 9.

Key vaccines are expected to arrive in Vietnam late July, said a health official.

The incidence of viral encephalitis, including Japanese encephalitis, so far this year is much lower than that of previous same periods, Director of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Preventive Medicine Tran Dac Phu said on July 9.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved the content of a project funded by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on assisting the Ministry of Health in implementing the National Strategy on Public Health Care.

The Ministry of Health has tightened epidemic prevention measures amid the threat posed by dangerous diseases such as of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, dengue fever, hand-foot-mouth and avian influenza.

Nutrious food for the elderly is untapped market. With 5.6 million elderly people in Vietnam, it offers a huge opportunity for food manufactures to tap this market, according to a report published by the English language news website VietNamNet Bridge.

As many as 289,000 mothers and some 3 million newborns died in 2013 alone, mostly in 73 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America, including Vietnam.

Health experts from around the world have praised Vietnam for its efforts and achievements in maternal and child health care at a global forum held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from June 30 to July 1.

Vietnam is one of 10 nations that has successfully reduced child and maternal deaths. It cut under-five mortality by 60 percent from 58 to 23.2 per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2012. This amounted to saving the lives of 23.4 million children.

The Ministry of Health is urging all parents to get their children properly vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis in time, stressing that the vaccine is being supplied free in all districts across the country.

The health sector will focus on improving the quality of medical services and benefits for insured patients.