Submitting to the National Assembly the Law on Disease Prevention: Adding many new regulations on mental health and nutrition

(Chinhphu.vn) - On the morning of October 23, continuing the 10th session, the National Assembly listened to the Presentation and Report on the draft Law on Disease Prevention - a new draft law expected to create a comprehensive legal corridor to improve people's physical and mental health and quality of life.

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan presents the draft Law on Disease Prevention - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Presenting the draft Law on Disease Prevention, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that after more than 17 years of implementation, the 2007 Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases has made an important contribution to controlling and preventing epidemics and protecting people's health.

However, practice shows that many new problems have arisen, such as the burden of non-communicable diseases, mental health disorders, malnutrition, environmental pollution and changes in health behavior.

The current law mainly regulates the prevention and control of infectious diseases, and does not cover new risk factors of non-communicable diseases and mental health. Therefore, the development of the Law on Disease Prevention is necessary to perfect the institution, meeting the requirements of protecting and caring for people's health in the new situation.

The objective of the draft Law is to perfect the legal basis for disease prevention work , aiming to improve the physical and mental health, stature and longevity of Vietnamese people through effective control of diseases and risk factors.

The draft Law consists of 6 chapters and 41 articles , regulating the following contents: Prevention and control of infectious diseases; prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and mental health disorders; ensuring nutrition in disease prevention; and ensuring conditions such as resources, human resources, science and technology, digital transformation and the Disease Prevention Fund.

Add more new, comprehensive content

Compared with current regulations, the draft Law on Disease Prevention expands the scope of regulation and adds a series of new regulations.

Regarding the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases , the draft clearly stipulates measures to manage risk factors, early detection, prevention and treatment in the community; assigns the Minister of Health to issue specific regulations on ensuring nutrition and improving physical strength.

Regarding the prevention and control of mental health disorders , the draft provides regulations on risk factors, preventive measures, early detection, and the rights and responsibilities of individuals and organizations in protecting mental health - an area of ​​increasing social concern.

Notably, the content on ensuring nutrition in disease prevention is specifically regulated for each group of subjects: pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, children under 24 months old, children and school nutrition, workers, and the elderly.

In addition, the draft also stipulates conditions to ensure disease prevention work , such as human resource policies, regimes for people working in disease prevention and control, application of science, technology, innovation, digital transformation in public health monitoring; especially the establishment of the Disease Prevention Fund - a state financial fund outside the budget established by the Prime Minister.

The Fund's sources include charter capital from the State budget, the remaining balance of the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund until June 30, 2026, the mandatory contribution of 2% on the special consumption tax price of tobacco manufacturing and importing establishments, and other legal sources of funding, contributions, and aid.

Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Society Nguyen Dac Vinh presented a summary of the Report on the review of the Law on Disease Prevention project - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Presenting the Verification Report, Chairman of the Committee on Culture and Society Nguyen Dac Vinh said that the Committee agreed with the objectives and viewpoints of building the Law and assessed that the draft was basically consistent with the Constitution, consistent with the legal system and fully institutionalized the Party's policy on people's health care .

However, the Committee recommends continuing to review and more fully institutionalize the contents of Resolution No. 72 of the Politburo , ensuring balance between the standardized policies.

Regarding the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases , the Committee recommends studying and supplementing regulations on mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the contents of "consultation, monitoring, early detection, and preventive treatment for people at high risk of non-communicable diseases" to ensure feasibility in implementation.

Regarding the prevention and control of mental health disorders , it is necessary to clearly identify high-risk subjects, preventive measures and funding sources for implementation; at the same time, research and supplement content related to school mental health and people with psychological trauma after natural disasters .

Regarding nutrition in disease prevention , the Committee recommends studying and supplementing regulations to ensure full application of the principle that "nutrition in disease prevention must be implemented throughout the life cycle, according to each age group and each subject"; consider supplementing the principle that the implementation of nutrition in disease prevention only prescribes recommendations for the use of nutritional products, not mandatory use of nutritional products.

Regarding the nutrition policy for pregnant women and malnourished children , the majority of opinions of the Committee believe that it is necessary to have regulations applicable to all subjects including pregnant women who need micronutrient supplementation and children with acute malnutrition and stunting, regardless of region or area, to ensure the policy of increasing birth rate, improving population quality and fairness.

Regarding the conditions for disease prevention, the Committee agreed on the need to regulate the Disease Prevention Fund, including regulations on the source of the fund. However, the Committee proposed a mechanism to control the fund such as "Every two years, the Government reports to the National Assembly on the results of operations and management of the Fund"; clearly defining the purpose, specific tasks and principles of using the Fund, especially the task of supporting activities to prevent and combat the harmful effects of tobacco; not creating new organizations in the process of establishing the Disease Prevention Fund.

Some opinions suggested not to abolish the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund, but only to amend and supplement the name and tasks of the Fund as stipulated in the Law on Tobacco Harm Prevention to ensure the Fund operates more effectively.

There are suggestions to study regulations on mandatory contributions for establishments producing and importing goods that pose a risk to health such as alcohol, beer, and sugary drinks to ensure fairness among goods that are harmful to health.

Thu Giang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/trinh-quoc-hoi-luat-phong-benh-bo-sung-nhieu-quy-dinh-moi-ve-suc-khoe-tam-than-dinh-duong-102251023101809992.htm