Get widespread feedback from commune and ward health workers to guide free screening for people

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lien Huong, Deputy Minister of Health chaired a meeting on developing guidelines for implementing free screening for people at commune, ward, and special zone health stations.

Attending the meeting were representatives of leaders of Departments and Offices under the Ministry of Health and central hospitals under the Ministry.

Delegates discussed around each group of regulations for free screening in the draft Guidelines.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lien Huong, Deputy Minister of Health chaired a meeting on developing guidelines for implementing free screening for people at commune, ward, and special zone health stations.

According to the Draft Guidelines for implementing free screening for people at Commune, Ward, Special Zone Health Stations and eligible facilities, screening applies to 7 age groups according to the life cycle, specifically: Pregnant women and fetuses; newborns; children from newborns to under 6 years old; school children; students; people from 16 to under 60 years old; elderly people (60 years old and over), mainly with a frequency of 1 time/1 year.

Funding for screening comes from three sources: State budget; health insurance and socialization, aid, and legal sponsorship.

The draft also states that depending on socio-economic conditions and the ability to balance and arrange resources, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee will decide the time and add additional groups of subjects in the third and fourth quarters of 2026 for appropriate implementation.

The speeches of the delegates at the meeting focused on the proposal to clarify the concepts of screening and periodic examination, consider the overlap between funding sources, and propose to increase the subjects, examination content, and examination fields.

Opinions also expressed how to organize free screening for people at commune, ward and special zone health facilities to properly and fully apply the functions, tasks and human resources capacity and equipment at health stations.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lien Huong, Deputy Minister of Health, spoke.

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong affirmed: The goal of conducting free screening for people in 2026 has been clearly stated in the institutions and policies. In the immediate future, screening will be conducted to suit the current stage, meeting the needs of the people, and in the next 5 years, it will be adjusted according to the practical situation.

Regarding the Draft Guidelines, the Deputy Minister requested the Department of Disease Prevention to coordinate with the Department of Science, Technology and Training to review and reconsider details to avoid duplication in terms of subjects, implementation costs and provide a specific time schedule.

The Department of Disease Prevention shall coordinate with specialized agencies to conduct additional research into the Draft, identify and clearly note the items that have professional guidance; for items that do not have professional guidance, professional guidance must be issued in accordance with the correct procedure;

At the same time, the Department of Disease Prevention will take the lead in organizing direct and online meetings with relevant units, inviting health stations in regions, especially remote, border and island areas - where there are many difficulties in the operation of health stations - to serve as a basis for supplementation and guidance for each stage.

Delegates attending the meeting discussed.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong suggested that the Department of Planning and Finance carefully consider when developing the program, clearly stating the funding sources from target or sponsored programs, clearly defining the amount of money, the number of beneficiaries as well as determining how much funding from the state budget is needed for each target group.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Lien Huong requested that by November 20, 2025, the Draft Guidelines must be completed and revised and supplemented before being submitted to the Minister and sent to the Ministries and Branches for comments, meeting the set progress in free screening for people in 2026.

Source: https://suckhoedoisong.vn/lay-y-kien-rong-rai-den-y-te-xa-phuong-huong-dan-kham-sang-loc-mien-phi-cho-nguoi-dan-169251106204341731.htm