Resolution on breakthrough in public health care 'must be actionable'

(Chinhphu.vn) – This afternoon (July 8), at the Government headquarters, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long chaired a meeting on the draft Resolution of the Politburo on breakthroughs in public health care, meeting the requirements of national development in the new era.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long chaired a meeting on the Politburo 's draft Resolution on breakthroughs in public health care, meeting the country's development requirements in the new era - Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

Also attending were Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, leaders of ministries, departments, localities, hospitals, medical corporations, and representatives of international organizations.

Public health care is facing unprecedented challenges.

Directing the discussion, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long said that we have had resolutions of the Central Committee, many different documents of the Politburo, the Secretariat with content related to the issue of caring for and protecting people's health. Now, to build a Resolution of the Politburo, we must explain in more detail what is new and different in the content. From there, we can demonstrate the necessity of issuing this resolution.

In terms of scope, there are three major groups of issues: One is population issues, two is health care, in a broad sense, what is the living environment, what is the diet, how is the exercise… and three is that when you are sick, you must be treated. So is it correct to choose these groups of issues or not, the Deputy Prime Minister asked.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long said that the Politburo's Resolution must explain in more detail what is new and different in its content - Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

The Deputy Prime Minister reiterated the General Secretary's request that the draft Resolution must meet the following requirements: One, it must be strategic; two, it must be action-oriented and breakthrough, "not going into theory here"; and three, it must ensure feasibility, "proposing solutions and accompanying conditions for implementation, not being vague".

The Deputy Prime Minister also asked delegates to discuss whether "the target viewpoint is correct and accurate", and how the contents are selected for breakthroughs, including the issue of organizing the health system when we organize a two-level local government.

Speaking at the meeting, Minister Dao Hong Lan said that, in the face of the requirements of the new era - an era of deep international integration, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, climate change and profound changes in disease patterns - public health care is facing unprecedented challenges. These are the double burden of disease, the increase in non-communicable diseases, population aging, and people's increasing demands for the quality of health services. "Bottlenecks" and "bottlenecks" in terms of institutions, financial mechanisms, human resources, grassroots health capacity, self-sufficiency in drug and medical equipment supply... are still major barriers. Reality requires us to have new thinking, new ways of working and breakthrough solutions.

Minister Dao Hong Lan speaks at the meeting - Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

"The new resolution does not replace existing resolutions, directives and conclusions, but focuses on solving new and major problems, bottlenecks and bottlenecks, clearly defining goals, roadmaps and specific responsibilities in public health care to create breakthroughs in this work, meeting the requirements of national development in the new era," said the Minister.

The Minister also said that this Resolution must overcome the situation of "good policy but weak implementation", and must be action-oriented (in other words, this is a Resolution to implement the Resolution).

According to the draft Resolution presented by Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong, the goal is to increase the number of doctors working at grassroots health facilities for a limited period of time from 2025 to 2030. The rate of direct out-of-pocket expenditure for health care will be reduced to 30%. From 2026, each person will receive a free periodic health check-up or screening examination according to professional requirements at least once a year; an electronic health record will be created to manage health over the life cycle.

The vision for 2025 is to have people's health indicators and essential health service coverage indexes equivalent to those of developed countries, with people having an average life expectancy of over 80 years old, with the number of healthy years increasing, and the average stature, physical strength, and height of young people being equivalent to those of countries with the same level of development.

National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Anh Tri gives comments on the draft Resolution - Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

Mobilizing private enterprises to participate

Delegates highly appreciated the draft Resolution. Giving further comments on the draft, National Assembly delegate Nguyen Anh Tri said that it is necessary to focus on building specialized medical centers; promoting the training of resident physicians in the direction of elite training, with exceptionally high quality. He said that it is necessary to create conditions for private healthcare to participate in public services.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van De, Chairman of the Vietnam Private Hospital Association, said that it is necessary to strongly promote the participation of the private economy in the health sector - Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

Sharing the same view, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van De, Chairman of the Vietnam Private Hospital Association, agreed that it is necessary to strongly promote the participation of the private economy in the healthcare sector. "There needs to be breakthrough policies for private enterprises to invest in healthcare in remote and isolated areas," said Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van De. Therefore, land and tax incentives are needed. "If there are good policies, we will build two more hospitals in mountainous areas."

Vice Chairman of Phu Tho Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Huy Ngoc said that Vietnam's healthcare system has developed strongly in recent times. However, there are still some shortcomings, focusing on two main issues: Lack of human resources and difficulties in investing in infrastructure and equipment.

"The salary for medical staff is basically the same as other industries, there is no difference, while medicine is a special profession, requiring special treatment policies for the medical industry," Mr. Nguyen Huy Ngoc commented.

Delegates give comments on the draft Resolution - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Ms. Jennifer Horton - Deputy Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Office in Vietnam highly appreciated the draft Resolution for mentioning initiatives and solutions to build a healthy community, which is a very important health issue for a country and a nation. In addition, the draft mentions the viewpoint of taking people as the center in health care and medical work; improving the capacity of human resources, especially in high-quality specialties and fields; strengthening equipment, supplies, medical products, improving the quality of medical services; ensuring access to health for people; the issue of non-communicable diseases (a major risk leading to deaths); disease prevention from a public health perspective; vaccination;...

Ms. Jennifer Horton - Deputy Chief Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) Office in Vietnam highly appreciated the draft Resolution - Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

Ms. Jennifer Horton believes that along with the innovation in the thinking of the management agency, it is necessary to simultaneously change the thinking of the people in proactively taking care of their own health and that of their families. Appreciating the goal of reducing people's out-of-pocket spending on health care, she believes that health financing is very important and needs to be reflected in policy documents.

Research on building health standards and criteria when making policies

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long stated that all opinions agreed with most of the major contents of the draft Resolution, mainly contributing to specific issues. The Ministry of Health needs to continue to absorb opinions, refine and complete the Resolution to soon submit to the Politburo.

The Deputy Prime Minister suggested focusing on clarifying and highlighting the content of population policy and human health care. Appreciating the comments of the Ministry of Justice, the Deputy Prime Minister agreed that it is necessary to develop health standards and criteria when we plan policies, at least for basic policies, "if we have not yet confirmed whether to add this or not, there is a roadmap to move towards this".

The Deputy Prime Minister stated that it is necessary to study and clarify breakthroughs in investment, facilities, medical equipment, salary regimes, and preferential policies for medical staff, with specific accompanying data - Photo: VGP/Duc Tuan

It is necessary to research and clarify breakthroughs in investment, facilities, medical equipment, salary regimes, and welfare policies for medical staff, with specific accompanying data.

It is necessary to design and propose a model for organizing the local health system, also in the direction of eliminating intermediaries, in the direction of 2 levels, so "how will the commune health stations be handled?"

The Resolution must focus on breakthroughs, the Deputy Prime Minister stated. Regarding the draft Resolution, it is necessary to review policies, achievements, shortcomings, limitations, causes and highlight new points, differences compared to the present, thereby clarifying the necessity of the Resolution. It is necessary to study and combine with the four major resolutions of the Politburo (the four pillars) to develop contents in the medical aspect, protecting people's health.

Duc Tuan

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/nghi-quyet-ve-dot-pha-trong-cham-soc-suc-khoe-nhan-dan-phai-mang-tinh-hanh-dong-102250708181448445.htm