Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son delivers a speech at the meeting

Addressing the meeting, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son said in Viet Nam, primary healthcare has received special attention from the Party and State. Resolution No 20- NQ/TW set a target of universal coverage of healthcare and health insurance; focusing on renewing operation mechanisms and methods of commune-level health clinics so they can play the leading role in disease prevention and healthcare; developing family medicine; synchronously deploying information technology systems in the management of health clinics at grassroots level, vaccination and diseases; renewing to help everyone get healthcare and be treated equally in the rights and obligations when joining health insurance and enjoying medical services. The master plan No 2384 on building and developing a grassroots-level medical network and a project to build 26 medical stations in eight provinces and cities on a trial basis have brought in positive results but challenges remain.  

The establishment of the Technical Working Group on Primary Healthcare is an important landmark highlighting an approach of “interdisciplinary coordination and encouraging the participation of related partners” in implementing the goal of universal health coverage.

The health ministry’s representative said grassroots-level healthcare gained positive results, such as completing millennium goals, keeping malaria and tuberculosis under control, eradicating polio, eliminating neonatal tetanus, maintaining full vaccinations for children under a year old, reaching 95 per cent, and producing most kinds of vaccines for the national expanded immunisation programme.

It targets to reduce the rate of children under five with Hepatitis B to one per cent and eliminate measles by 2020. The life expectancy of people has increased. However, the rate of people’s out-of-pocket health expenses is still high, at 41 per cent, while the World Health Organisation warns that the rate should be under 30 per cent.

At the meeting, participants discussed some issues relating to the Technical Working Group on Primary Healthcare such as introducing the Technical Working Group on Primary Healthcare (objectives, roles, activities and coordination mechanism); review of a draft roadmap for the Technical Working Group on Primary Healthcare in 2020; the role of technology in implementing the Technical Working Group on Primary Healthcare for the goal of universal health coverage; building an investment map for primary healthcare at localities; investments proposed by partners; and mapping out next steps ./.