Illustrative image (Source: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) – Party committees at all levels and local authorities have been aware of their responsibility for guiding and encouraging the public to participate in social and health insurance over the past three years, heard at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on December 19.
The event was held by the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Popularisation and Education and the Vietnam Social Insurance (VSI) to review the three-year implementation of the Political Bureau’s Resolution No.21-NQ/TW on strengthening the Party’s leadership over social and medical insurance during 2012-2020.
Thanks to the active contributions of insurance workers, public awareness of the role and significance of social and health insurance to socio-political development and stability has been improved remarkably, said participants.
Notably, people increasingly satisfied with the quality of health services as well as insurance registration and payment procedures.
A report presented at the conference showed that by September 2015, 53 out of the 63 municipal and provincial insurance agencies nationwide had signed cooperation programmes with local media to popularise social and medical insurance policies.
Since the issuance of the resolution, popularisation and education boards as well as insurance agencies at municipal and provincial levels have actively engaged in the work, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern province of Dong Nai, Da Nang city, Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh provinces in the central region, and the northern provinces of Ninh Binh and Thai Nguyen.
Addressing the event, Deputy Finance Minister and VSI General Director Nguyen Thi Minh said the resolution demonstrates the Political Bureau’s due heed to social and medical insurance, which is considered as a key pillar of the country’s social welfare system.
The resolution sets a target that by 2020, half of the labour force will participate in social insurance, 35 percent are covered by unemployment insurance and more than 80 percent with health insurance, she said.
In order to fulfill the objective, Minh called for the resolve of the entire political system, with special attention to be paid to the communication work.
Participants at the conference also pointed out a range of difficulties hindering the popularisation of social and health insurance such as unsuitable relevant policies and limited financial capacity.
They proposed strengthening the leadership of the Party Committees and authorities at all levels over the work, renewing communication methods and improving knowledge of insurance workers.-VNA
