General Secretary To Lam: Shifting the mindset of healthcare for people with disabilities to an inclusive social approach

Photo caption — General Secretary To Lam speaks. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

Attending the meeting were Party Central Committee members: Le Thanh Long, Deputy Prime Minister; Pham Gia Tuc, Chief of the Party Central Committee Office; Lam Thi Phuong Thanh, Deputy Chief of the Party Central Committee Office; Nguyen Dac Vinh, Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Social Affairs; Dao Hong Lan, Minister of Health ; and representatives of relevant departments, ministries and branches.

According to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam currently has more than 8 million people with disabilities. People with severe and severe disabilities receive monthly social benefits, health insurance cards, and support for education and learning costs.

Nationwide, there are 165 social assistance facilities caring for people with disabilities (104 public facilities and 61 non-public facilities) caring for about 25,000 people with disabilities and mental illness and managing about 80,000 people with disabilities and mental illness in the community.

Ministries, sectors and localities have developed and implemented programs, plans and projects to achieve the goal by 2030: All people with severe and especially severe disabilities receive monthly social allowances and free health insurance cards; about 90% of people with disabilities have access to health services in various forms; 80% of children from birth to 6 years old are screened for early detection of congenital disabilities, developmental disorders and receive early intervention for various types of disabilities; 90% of people with disabilities at preschool and primary school age have access to education. All new constructions and 50% of old constructions ensure accessibility for people with disabilities...

Through actual surveys, currently, access to transportation is not suitable for the movement of people with disabilities and the use of assistive devices for people with disabilities is one of the most difficult problems to overcome. Many previous construction works have not complied with standards and technical regulations to ensure access for people with disabilities. The number of people with disabilities cared for at social assistance facilities is still low.

There are still a shortage of centers supporting the development of inclusive education or specialized schools for children with disabilities, and there is a lack of services to support the education of children with disabilities. People with disabilities still face difficulties in finding jobs, creating livelihoods, generating income, and competing in the labor market. People with disabilities also have difficulty accessing cultural, recreational, and sports activities at the grassroots level, especially in rural and mountainous areas.

Speaking at the meeting, General Secretary To Lam emphasized that caring for people with disabilities is not only a moral responsibility, but also a measure of civilization and modernity, a requirement of sustainable development and international integration. In recent years, the Party and State have had many important policies and guidelines; many models of support, rehabilitation, inclusive education, job creation... have been effective. Many people with disabilities have strived to rise up, study, work, and contribute value to society.

The General Secretary pointed out that in reality, most people with disabilities still face many difficulties in their daily lives. Many people with disabilities, especially women and children, still face the risk of violence, abandonment and discrimination.

In order to clearly identify the difficulties and propose practical solutions, the General Secretary requested to aim for a very clear goal: No disabled person is left behind. Every disabled person has the opportunity to live a better life every day.

After listening to the Ministry of Health's report and representatives of departments, ministries and branches exchanging opinions, the General Secretary emphasized that supporting people with disabilities is not only a social policy, but also a requirement of civilized, humane and modern development, and is the responsibility of the entire political system.

The General Secretary requested that solutions to improve accessibility and rehabilitation for people with disabilities must be clarified and perfected. The development of policies for people with disabilities in the current period must change thinking, shifting the approach from health and care to an inclusive social approach. That is, it is necessary to develop legal policies to access people with disabilities according to a social model, not according to the conventional health approach model.

This is very important, disability is not just a health problem, functional impairment but also a social barrier, limiting the participation of people with disabilities in economic and cultural life of the community. When recognizing this nature, policies must aim to eliminate prejudice, reduce inequality, expand opportunities, and empower people with disabilities as subjects of development, not passive objects of care. From that perspective, the policy system needs to be designed to be more interdisciplinary and comprehensive.

The General Secretary said that, in addition to supporting healthcare, rehabilitation, and health insurance, the state needs to focus strongly on policies for inclusive education, appropriate vocational training, preferential mechanisms in recruitment, access to transport infrastructure, public works, and digital transformation to allow people with disabilities to access online public services and assistive technology tools.

Social security policies must also ensure a minimum standard of living, support livelihoods, housing, and legal assistance so that people with disabilities can integrate in a real way. This requires raising public awareness, eliminating stigma, promoting a barrier-free and accessible social model for all. Along with that, it is necessary to encourage the private sector, social organizations, and communities to participate extensively in activities to support people with disabilities, create jobs, and create other friendly products and services. Review and specify the 2030 goals that the Ministry of Health is building; expand rehabilitation services at the grassroots level, and ensure that people with disabilities receive regular health monitoring...

The General Secretary requested that strong solutions be continued to be researched so that all children with disabilities can be detected early, go to school, study, and integrate. The government and locality must take responsibility for any commune or locality where children with disabilities remain at home. Education is considered the key to ensuring that children with disabilities are not left behind. The Ministry of Education and Training needs to review the system of centers supporting inclusive education; prioritize localities that lack or do not have centers for school development for children with visual and hearing impairments, and train support teachers.

The General Secretary proposed practical solutions to expand employment and livelihood opportunities for people with disabilities and to have policies on this issue for people with disabilities, equality, self-reliance, and opportunities to contribute to society. Solutions on transport infrastructure, public works, and online services must be more friendly and accessible; promote the application of assistive technology and digital transformation, and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.

The General Secretary noted that it is necessary to continue researching solutions to prevent and detect violence, abandonment and discrimination against people with disabilities; there should be a friendly reporting mechanism and timely support at the grassroots level, focusing on women and children with disabilities, the most vulnerable groups; strengthen communication and raise social awareness, spread the spirit of respect, sharing and accompanying people with disabilities; simplify administrative procedures, remove barriers that make it difficult for people with disabilities to access legitimate rights.

Agencies continue to conduct deeper research, more comprehensive analysis, clarify problems in policies and practices, highlight overlapping contents between programs, and propose new solutions suitable to the country's conditions and the actual needs of people with disabilities.

The General Secretary requested that the Party Central Committee Office announce the conclusion of the working session; assign the Government Party Committee to direct the Ministry of Health, ministries and branches to continue researching and consulting widely to have practical, feasible solutions with clear impacts, thereby building and perfecting specific projects, plans and actions, and reporting to the Secretariat for consideration and comments.

The General Secretary stated that the common view is to create a new step forward, take stronger and more drastic actions to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities nationwide; so that all people with disabilities have the opportunity to live safely, study, work, integrate and develop like all other citizens.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-chuyen-tu-duy-cham-soc-y-te-cho-nguoi-khuet-tat-sang-cach-tiep-can-xa-hoi-hoa-nhap-20251203203446997.htm