Primary healthcare in Vietnam is regarded as the foundation and backbone of the health system. It serves as the frontline and "gatekeeper" of healthcare, providing the closest and most direct access to communities. It enhances people's access to medical services at the grassroots level, ensures healthcare equity, and minimises treatment costs for citizens.
The evaluation of the investment and development of the primary healthcare service delivery system project shows that all goals have been achieved within the committed timeframe, exceeding expectations.
The Joint Ministers of Finance and Health Symposium on Universal Health Coverage in Asia and the Pacific, with the theme “COVID-19 and Beyond”, was held online by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Hanoi on September 17, with the participation of various countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
About 81 percent of patients questioned said they are satisfied with medical services in Vietnam, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien cited an independent survey while delivering a speech at a United Nations meeting on September 23.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam affirmed that increasing autonomy for hospitals is an important policy, but the work should not mislead public hospitals to operate for profit.
People deserve comprehensive healthcare at the commune-level medical stations even when they are not ill and for this to happen, the operation of these stations must to be standardised, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has stressed.
Almost half the country’s provinces have set up a centre for disease control by merging their centres for preventive health, prevention of HIV/AIDS, malaria and others, and the Ministry of Health wants the rest to follow suit.
