A Health Ministry-administered 85-million USD project has helped more than 81 percent of people living just above the poverty line in the Mekong delta afford social health insurance premiums.
The figure was reported at a conference reviewing a project to assist healthcare services in the Mekong delta over the past four years. The conference was co-organised by the Health Ministry and the World Bank in Can Tho city on March 11.
Thanks to the project’s premium subsidies, 100 percent of people who were vulnerable to poverty in nine of 13 cities and provinces in the Mekong Delta have paid for social health insurance that helped them address the burden of health care costs, according to the project director, Le Thi Thanh.
The nine localities include Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, An Giang, Can Tho, Kien Giang, Long An, Soc Trang, Tien Giang and Tra Vinh.
In addition, as many as 16,900 patients struck by economic difficulties in the region have received medical treatment subsidies from the project, which has also assisted in the further training of 1,300 doctors and health workers in the area.
The project has also equipped provincial general hospitals and preventive healthcare clinics with modern medical equipment and machinery to enhance their treatment capacity.
The World Bank commented that the project has greatly assisted the Mekong delta provinces in enforcing health care policies, particularly social health insurance schemes, for the poor and low-income earners.
This year, the project targets helping more than 50 percent of low-income earners in the remaining four provinces of Hau Giang, Ben Tre, Vinh Long and Dong Thap to be able to afford social health insurance premiums.
It will invest in upgrading 11 general hospitals in the region to enable them to deploy a computerised epidemic monitoring system to improve localities’ ability to control outbreaks of disease.
In addition to this, the project will set aside a funding to help localities subsidise hospital fees for low-income earners and modernise their medical schools, colleges and hospitals to meet the needs of local people for medical checks-up and treatment./.
The figure was reported at a conference reviewing a project to assist healthcare services in the Mekong delta over the past four years. The conference was co-organised by the Health Ministry and the World Bank in Can Tho city on March 11.
Thanks to the project’s premium subsidies, 100 percent of people who were vulnerable to poverty in nine of 13 cities and provinces in the Mekong Delta have paid for social health insurance that helped them address the burden of health care costs, according to the project director, Le Thi Thanh.
The nine localities include Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, An Giang, Can Tho, Kien Giang, Long An, Soc Trang, Tien Giang and Tra Vinh.
In addition, as many as 16,900 patients struck by economic difficulties in the region have received medical treatment subsidies from the project, which has also assisted in the further training of 1,300 doctors and health workers in the area.
The project has also equipped provincial general hospitals and preventive healthcare clinics with modern medical equipment and machinery to enhance their treatment capacity.
The World Bank commented that the project has greatly assisted the Mekong delta provinces in enforcing health care policies, particularly social health insurance schemes, for the poor and low-income earners.
This year, the project targets helping more than 50 percent of low-income earners in the remaining four provinces of Hau Giang, Ben Tre, Vinh Long and Dong Thap to be able to afford social health insurance premiums.
It will invest in upgrading 11 general hospitals in the region to enable them to deploy a computerised epidemic monitoring system to improve localities’ ability to control outbreaks of disease.
In addition to this, the project will set aside a funding to help localities subsidise hospital fees for low-income earners and modernise their medical schools, colleges and hospitals to meet the needs of local people for medical checks-up and treatment./.
