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| A volunteer doctor examines a local in the northern mountainous province of Điện Biên. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Ngọc |
Viet Nam News
HÀ NỘI — As many as 78 young doctors have been recruited for a pilot project on sending doctors to disadvantaged areas, including mountainous, border areas and islands, from June.
The doctors will receive intensive training before being assigned to work in 37 poor districts in 13 provinces, the Ministry of Health said at a press conference in Hà Nội on Thursday.
The health ministry will hold a ceremony on June 28 to send seven young doctors to Bắc Hà District of the northern mountainous province of Lào Cai. The pilot project, approved by the ministry in 2013, gives priority to 62 poorest districts.
It is aimed at creating more opportunities for the poor and needy to gain access to better medical services, reduce the unnecessary transfer of patients to higher-level hospitals and ease the overload at central hospitals.
Head of the Organisation and Personnel Department Phạm Văn Tác said public health facilities at these disadvantaged areas still faced shortage of equipment, infrastructure and especially human resources.
These poor districts need some 600 doctors, he said.
The ministry has partnered with the Hà Nội Medical University to devise a framework and detailed training curricula for doctors trained under the project. Tác said the ministry will continue working with hospitals to recruit qualified doctors.
Health ministry statistics show that the country currently has more than 16,200 doctors working at the district level, making up 30 per cent of the country’s total doctors.
However, many poor districts continue to face a shortage of skills. In northern provinces such as Hà Giang, Cao Bằng and Yên Bái, many district general hospitals have only 7-8 doctors. — VNS
