HÀ NỘI — President Trần Đại Quang extended greetings to doctors and health workers while attending a ceremony marking the 63rd celebration of Vietnamese Doctors’ Day (February 27) held at Bạch Mai Hospital in Hà Nội yesterday.

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

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

President Quang asked the sector and Bạch 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 Bạch Mai Hospital to become the country’s leading centre for health care services, training and research.

 Established in 1911, Bạch Mai is one of the biggest hospitals in Việt Nam.

At the ceremony, President Trần Đại Quang presented Labour Order, second class, to the hospital, and Labour Order, first class, to Associate Professor Doctor Nguyễn Quốc 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 per cent with the organisation of bidding for pharmaceutical products procurement; and Việt 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 per cent (the NA’s set target was at 25.5 per cent) and health insurance coverage reach 86.4 per cent (the set target was 82.2 per cent).

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 per cent.

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 Vietnam 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 Việt Nam, 3D technology has been successfully applied in cardiovascular endoscopic surgery at E General Hospital in Hà Nội.  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 Nguyễn Viết Tiến, 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. — VNS