International partners highly value the efforts Vietnam has exerted over the past years for many significant achievements in the healthcare sector, and pledge to continue working closely with Vietnam.

The statement was made by Pratibha Mehta, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, at a conference co-chaired by Minister of Healthcare Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa, in Hanoi on March 27.

The UN official affirmed that Vietnam has reached a number of millennium goals such as providing vaccination for most of newborn children, reducing the maternal mortality rate, and offering healthcare services for mothers, poor children and those of minority ethnic groups and in remote areas.

However, she also pointed out the gap in healthcare services among residential groups and regions, and called on the country to exert more efforts to narrow it.

At the conference, representatives of the Health Ministry suggested the inclusion of the Millennium Development Goals relating to health care into the local socio-economic development plans so as to attract investment from local and state budget as the foreign aid to Vietnam is reducing.-VNA