HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam has called on ministries and agencies to pay more attention to emerging social issues to have timely support measures.

Speaking at a meeting held in Hà Nội on Thursday to review the implementation of Government Resolution 70/NQ-CP on social policies this year, Deputy PM Đam who is the head of the national steering committee overseeing the implementation of the resolution, noted the rich-poor gap in Việt Nam has become wider while new vulnerable groups have appeared, such as the increase of the number of people suffering from emotional disorders, depression or autism.

Without timely and appropriate measures, these social issues would leave serious consequences, he said.

As many programmes failed to fulfill targets due to limited resources, Đam asked ministries, agencies and localities to build clear and detailed plans to implement the resolution more effectively.

He asked the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to review the implementation of social policies and define direct and indirect supporting policies for the people.

He urged the Việt Nam Fatherland Front Committee to continue mobilising resources from society for social security programmes and supervise social policies to ensure they are implemented effectively, equally and transparently.

At the meeting, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Lê Quân said that Resolution 70, issued in 2012, assigned main tasks to ministries, agencies, localities, organisations and individuals, focusing on developing an effective scheme for the search and collection of martyrs’ remains, diversifying forms of social insurance, working on amendments and supplements to supporting policies for households living near the poverty line and social security policies for all citizens.

Quân reported that about 1.3 million revolutionary contributors received monthly aid from the State this year. The Government provided monthly aid and free healthcare insurance cards to 2.8 million people.

The number of social insurance participants increased by 14.6 million people, meaning 26.55 per cent of Việt Nam’s labour forces has joined the social insurance scheme.

The country’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.2 per cent, while the National Fund for Employment helped to create 160,000 jobs this year.

The national average poverty rate in 2018 dropped to 5.35 per cent, 1.35 percentage points lower than that of last year.

However, many participants said localities varied in their implementation of the resolution. In many areas, the living conditions of revolutionary contributors, poor people and ethnic minority people still faced many difficulties.

They also mentioned poor co-operation among ministries, agencies and localities, reducing the efficiency of the resolution. Overlapping documents guiding social policies was also a problem. — VNS