President Tran Dai Quang extended greetings to doctors and health workers while attending a ceremony marking the 63^rd celebration of Vietnamese Doctors’ Day (27 February) held at Bach Mai Hospital in Ha Noi on Monday.

Tran Binh Giang, director of Viet Nam - Germany Hospital, trains doctors at an operating theater of the hospital. — VNA/VNS Photo Duong Ngoc

The President expressed his gratitude to doctors and health workers across the country and at Bach Mai Hospital in particular.

He said that amidst the extensive industrialisation, modernisation and international integration process, Viet Nam has faced numerous challenges in health care, including the risks of environmental pollution and epidemics.

President Quang asked the sector and Bach Mai Hospital to focus on implementing reforms to improve health care services, personnel training, scientific research, epidemic prevention, international cooperation and economic management, with the aim of improving the quality of health care services.

At the same time, the sector should pay greater attention to developing in-depth techniques, expanding the satellite hospital network and training and transferring technology to hospitals at local levels, thus easing overcrowding in hospitals, he said.

The President stressed the need for close coordination between civil and military medicine to better care for people’s health in border, island, remote and poor areas, along with the stronger application of science and advanced technologies in check-up, treatment and disease prevention.

The State leader also asked the Ministry of Health and relevant agencies to create optimal conditions for Bach Mai Hospital to become the country’s leading centre for health care services, training and research.

Established in 1911, Bach Mai is one of the biggest hospitals in Viet Nam.

At the ceremony, President Tran Dai Quang presented Labour Order, second class, to the hospital, and Labour Order, first class, to Associate Professor Doctor Nguyen Quoc Anh, director of the hospital.

Impressive achievements

The year 2017 saw the health sector spare no effort to effectively implement its tasks to achieve the goal of ‘patient-centred’ care.

Last year, the proportion of health insurance coverage increased to 86.4 per cent; drug prices were reduced by nearly 17% with the organisation of bidding for pharmaceutical products procurement; and Viet Nam successfully produced a measles-rubella vaccine.

Comprehensive solutions helped the sector surpass the two goals assigned to it by the National Assembly (NA) in 2017, making the number of beds per 10,000 people reach 25.7% (the NA’s set target was at 25.5%) and health insurance coverage reach 86.4% (the set target was 82.2%).

In 2018, the health ministry aims to exceed their 2017 performance on 11 targets.  In particular, the NA and the Prime Minister have assigned two tasks, to bring the number of hospital beds per 10,000 people to 26 per cent and the proportion of the population participating in health insurance to 88.5%.

Also in 2017, the health sector witnessed many breakthroughs in the application of new techniques in disease treating.

For the first time Vietnamese doctors successfully performed a lung transplant from two living donors.  The transplant was conducted at the Military Hospital 103, in co-ordination with doctors from the Viet Nam Military Medical Academy and Japanese experts.  Also, the application of  robotic endoscopic surgery system in orthopedic injuries or cardiac surgeries was seen as a contribution to the great success of the medical sector in general and surgery in particular.

Also for the first time in Viet Nam, 3D technology has been successfully applied in cardiovascular endoscopic surgery at E General Hospital in Ha Noi.  The superiority of 3D technology enables physicians to perform cardiac surgery accurately, quickly and more effectively, reducing complications for patients.

In April, a new surgical technique developed by renowned obstetric surgeon Nguyen Viet Tien, who is also Deputy Health Minister, that could replace the IVF (in-vitro fertilization) method for thousands of infertile women was announced.  The National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology announced successful testing of the new technique, which involves using a “catheter” to broaden the internal orifice of the uterus via an endoscopy through the womb and abdomen.  After more than 10 years of study, the technique was successfully deployed on two women diagnosed with secondary infertility.

(Source: VNS)