Each rotating doctor is a core member of the facility.

Reporter (PV): Improving primary health care is a continuous task to fulfill the mission of taking care of people's health of the health sector. How do you evaluate this task in the current situation?

Associate Professor, Dr. Tang Chi Thuong: Consolidating, perfecting, and enhancing the capacity of the grassroots health network to take care of people's health is both a task and a process of mobilization, meeting the demands of reality. Ho Chi Minh City has had many achievements and experiences from the work of preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic, improving health capacity in recent times, thereby showing that the role of the grassroots health system, especially the team of doctors associated with the grassroots is very important. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on promoting solutions to improve the capacity of grassroots health, especially investing in equipment and medicines, supplementing qualified medical staff, perfecting the community health care network, improving the capacity of primary medical examination and treatment, disease prevention, control, treatment... Ho Chi Minh City's health sector has determined that in 2023 it will focus on making a breakthrough in this key task.

PV: Strengthening the team of doctors for grassroots health care is the right policy and solution that the Ho Chi Minh City health sector has implemented since 2022 and is determined to make a breakthrough in 2023. Can you elaborate on this activity?

Associate Professor, Doctor, Doctor Tang Chi Thuong: Supplementing human resources for grassroots health care, especially a team of good doctors to meet the requirements of initial medical examination and treatment, implementing medical techniques right at the grassroots level. This also contributes to training the expertise of the team of doctors and medical staff associated with the grassroots level, especially at a young age. In fact, this policy is not new, but has been implemented by the city's health sector for more than 10 years based on Decision No. 14/2013/QD-TTg dated February 20, 2013 of the Prime Minister. The new point of Ho Chi Minh City is to implement this activity on a larger scale, in depth, associated with specific regulations, suitable for practical requirements. Currently, the Ho Chi Minh City health sector continues to implement this program, especially the Department of Health deploys human resources from district health centers and district hospitals to rotate to health stations lacking doctors, and implements policies and regulations for doctors participating in rotation to the grassroots level. In addition, in 2022 and 2023, the Department of Health also launched the model of "Rotating volunteer doctors" who are union members to work at the health station of Thanh An island commune, Can Gio district, which is currently very effective, creating trust among the people.

PV: What are the meanings and effects of rotating doctors to the grassroots level, sir?

Associate Professor, Dr., MD Tang Chi Thuong: It can be affirmed that adding more doctors to work at health stations is a very necessary issue and needs to be further strengthened in the coming time. Health stations at the grassroots level have the function of initial medical examination and treatment associated with disease prevention and health management, so when doctors are rotated, they all participate in these functions. In addition to medical examination and treatment, doctors also participate in implementing communication for many health programs... Currently, we are implementing an operating mechanism for health stations according to the motto of not leveling all health stations equally, only rotating doctors to places where there is a shortage of doctors, difficult areas, remote areas... especially in Binh Chanh, Can Gio, Cu Chi districts.

Reporter: Could you tell us if we increase the medical staff at the grassroots level, will there be a shortage of doctors and nurses at district, county and city hospitals?

Associate Professor, Dr. Tang Chi Thuong: It must be said that the implementation of this activity has been carefully calculated and tightly implemented by the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City and the city's health sector. In addition to supplementing capital to promote medical equipment and build basic health infrastructure, the rotation and reinforcement of medical staff has been calculated, arranged and allocated in the most reasonable way. 10 years ago, we were still hesitant because the ratio of doctors per 10,000 people was still low due to a lack of doctors, focusing on prioritizing the team of doctors for hospitals. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has promoted the socialization of healthcare, strongly built and developed a system of medical training schools, creating a workforce of doctors that meet the requirements of quality and expertise. It is estimated that Ho Chi Minh City trains more than 1,000 doctors every year and the provinces and cities in the region also have many schools training doctors. Therefore, the shortage of doctors has been greatly improved, currently the doctor/10,000 people index of Ho Chi Minh City has reached 21 doctors/10,000 people (the highest in the country). Currently, the city's health sector is capable of effectively implementing this program, contributing to improving the capacity of primary medical examination and treatment, contributing to solving the overload situation at end-line hospitals, effectively preventing and fighting epidemics, and providing good health care for the people.

MINH KIEN (performed)

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