Hanoi (VNA) – Permanent deputy head of the Steering Committee for the Northwestern Region Hau A Lenh and Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien signed a cooperation agreement in Hanoi on September 23, with a view to improving health care and preventive medicine in the region between now and 2020.

The two sides will also cooperate in devising medical worker training policies for the region, especially at the grassroots level.

The agreement targets having 75 percent of regional communes meet national standards on medical care by 2020, and 80 percent of communal medical stations have at least a doctor, while high-quality medical centres will be built in the northern provinces of Phu Tho and Lao Cai.

The two sides will work together to bring HIV infection rate in the region down to below 0.3 percent by 2020.

Both sides agreed to build a testing centre for medicines, cosmetics and food in Lang Son, implement the provincial disease control centre model in accordance with the national medical development master plan, and build a model of district-level medical centre specialised in preventive medicine and functional rehabilitation.

The steering committee and the health ministry will also conduct joint research to recommend policies on health care to the Party and State.-VNA