Hanoi (VNA) - Medical services atthe grassroots level help save costs and ensure sustainability in healthcare,contributing to the improvement of medical service quality, according to theMinistry of Health.

However,the ministry said healthcare at the grassroots level have showed weaknesses,requiring changes to better serve people.

There are 11,162 clinics at commune, ward andtown levels nationwide. The Health Ministry said that the number of medicalservices at commune-level clinics has met only 52.2 percent of health check-upand treatment demand. There is a shortage of basic medicines and drugs coveredby health insurance at this level.

The quality of medical equipment, infrastructureand medical workers is not ensured. Patients have lost trust in medical qualityat the grassroots level due to a series of medical calamities and moved toclinics or hospitals of higher level. This fact has led to overcrowd atdistrict-level or central level healthcare facilities.

Tuan said that the country is facing doubledisease burden (from communicable and non-communicable diseases).

Efficiency of human resources remains low in thecontext of limited financial source. The humble capacity of medical serviceprovision at the grassroots level has prevented health insurance holders toenjoy their benefits and increase healthcare costs.

“There is an increasingly widened difference ingetting access to healthcare quality between regions,” he said.

In this context, improving and renewinghealthcare at the grassroots level are a sustainable solution because it is thenearest system for people to get access to. The nationwide system of healthcarenetwork at the grassroots level and equal medical quality will ensure equity,he said.

The resolution of the 6th Plenum of CommunistParty of Vietnam puts focus on improving disease preventive capacity combinedwith healthcare facilities at the grassroots level.

By 2020, 95 percent of communal health centres,wards or towns will undertake the task of preventive medicine, healthmanagement and treatment of certain non-communicable diseases, the resolutionsays.

The Health Ministry has launched essentialmedical packages covered by health insurance, serving disease prevention andimproving healthcare. This has helped people get better access to qualityhealthcare network at their residential areas.

The ministry also considers improving healthcarequality at the grassroots level as a key to universal healthcare coverage. Healthcareat home is an important solution to improve local medical quality. Medicalworkers of district-level clinics or hospitals are sent to commune-levelhealthcare facilities twice or three times a week and vice versa forprofessional exchanges.-VNA