Minister outlines measures to improve primary health care services

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These include improving the capacity of medical workers; finding new operation methods; investing in human resources and facilities; applying information technology; designing special financial regimes; and enhancing communication work, said Tien at the opening of a training course on chronic disease care at commune-level medical stations held in Ho Chi Minh City.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien.

In the future, services for the treatment, control, and prevention of non-communicable chronic diseases – like diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular, and respiratory diseases – will be predominantly delivered by medical stations at ward and commune levels.

A large network of ward- and commune-level medical stations have been set up across the country but the health sector has yet to make the most of them, she said, adding that it is a waste of resources as upper-level hospitals are becoming more overcrowded.

Tien moved on to suggest that ward- and commune-level medical clinics need to pay more attention to developing traditional medicine in order to make it one of their special advantages. She expected that such primary care providers will win public trust with an increasing number of people visiting them over the next 10 years.