Vinh Phuc striving to improve healthcare quality

Providing health checkup for a patient in a clinic in Vinh Tuong district of Vinh Phuc (Photo: VNA)

Vinh Phuc (VNA) - The northern province of Vinh Phuc has paid due attention this year to training its medical personnel and improving systems in a coordinated manner, to meet the healthcare needs of local people.

It has viewed the provision of healthcare as an urgent task and enhanced disease prevention efforts in line with improvements in public health.

To bolster the quality of medical examinations and treatment, the province earmarked more than 3.3 trillion VND (142.66 million USD) in the 2016-2020 period for infrastructure, including a 1,000-bed provincial General Hospital and a 500-bed obstetric and paediatric hospital.

Vinh Phuc has completed the construction of a hospital and clinic in Tam Dao district along with three other clinics in Vinh Tuong and Song Lo districts and Phuc Yen city.

Some 94.16 billion VND has also been disbursed to upgrade 72 health clinics in the local area.

The province boasts a strong contingency of 4,300 medical workers and all clinics meet national standards. It has 13 doctors and 32.1 hospital beds per 10,000 people, and has set itself a target of bringing these figures to 15 and 40 by 2025.

Five satellite hospital projects on oncology, cardiovascular diseases, obstetrics, paediatrics, and trauma surgery have been rolled out, and medical facilities at the provincial and district level equipped with the necessary modern machines.

Furthermore, 13 out of the 15 health facilities have become financially independent, saving the State budget nearly 200 billion VND each year and raising quality at local hospitals. The province’s healthcare sector has also taken the initiative in administrative reform.

It has been stepping up efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in the community, with a focus on communications work.
Aware that behaviour-changing educational and communications activities are a key solution in fighting the disease, the province has tried to diversify the forms of communications.

It has mobilised all types of mass communications, from radio and TV to the network of public loudspeakers at the grassroots level. Due regard has also been given to making content simple and relevant.

The province will continue to work to raise public awareness about measures to prevent the transmission of HIV and eradicate discrimination against HIV carriers.

Vinh Phuc was among the first COVID-19 hotspots in Vietnam since the disease made its appearance in the country in January. Of the first 16 positive cases recorded, Vinh Phuc had 11 and its rural Son Loi commune alone reported seven cases – all due to a group of Vietnamese workers returning from a training trip to China’s Wuhan, where the world’s first COVID-19 infections were confirmed.

The 22-day lockdown effectively restricted all incoming or outgoing travel from the commune with a population of 10,000, aiming at containing the outbreak from spreading further in the community. It was officially lifted at midnight on March 4.

Vinh Phuc has a large number of workers and foreign-invested enterprises. Currently, 87,000 workers are working in industrial zones, mostly in factories.

The provincial Management Board of Industrial Zones said it has asked all enterprises to conduct preventive measures, including spraying disinfectants, establishing checkpoints to check workers’ body temperature, supplying face masks to workers and customers, washing hands with disinfectant solution, and classifying and quarantining those returning from epidemic-hit areas.

Provincial forces have regularly sent inspection teams to factories to remind both enterprise leaders and workers to follow regulations on the prevention of the disease.

Enterprises have been asked to provide timely and accurate information on suspected cases and report to functional forces for quarantine.

In addition, prevention of the disease has also been tightened in apartment buildings./.