Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien speaks at the 72nd session of the World Health Assembly.(Photo: VNA)
Geneva (VNA) – The Vietnamese Government prioritises resources toimprove capacity of the grassroots-level clinics towards universal healthcarecoverage and realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Minister ofHealth Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has said.
Attending the 72nd session of the World Health Assembly in Geneva onMay 21, Tien said that in a bid to provide better healthcare services for allVietnamese people, the Government has developed an ambitious action plan which aimsto enhance capacity for more than 11,000 communal healthcare stations.
Accordingly, all of the clinics will be operated in accordance with theprinciples of family medicine, focusing on health promotion, and earlierdetection, treatment and control of non-communicable diseases.
Financial mechanism reforms, infrastructure investment and human resourcestraining are the primary focus of initial healthcare amelioration, Tien said,adding that Vietnam has mobilised various financial resources to carry out itsplan, including preferential loans and fund from the World Bank, the AsianDevelopment Bank, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the European Union andmany other partners.
The minister also described poor financial mechanism for initial healthcare andineffective public-private partnership as challenges of the health sector.
Universal healthcare coverage and initial healthcare are the main contents ofthe World Health Assembly’s 72nd session from May 20-28, drawing theparticipation of some 4,000 delegates from 194 member states of the WHO.
The Assembly plans to adopt a 2020-2021 budget totaling 4.8 billion USD toimprove population’s access to essential health services as well as better protectlocal people from health emergencies.
Impact of climate change on people’s health, access to vaccination, and healthof the immigrants will be on the table at the event.
As the decision-making body of WHO, the Assembly meets annually in May in Genevato consider and determine the organisation’s orientation, financial policies,and upcoming agenda.-VNA
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