NA health seminar held in Central Highlands

The National Assembly (NA) Committee for Social Affairs on September 20 jointly held with the Kom Tum provincial People’s Council a seminar on health care and policies in the central region and the Central Highlands.

Representatives of the NA and People’s Councils along with leaders of medical centres in the region attended the event.

The seminar focused on three main areas: policies on health insurance and malnutrition prevention, maternal and child care, and HIV/AIDS prevention.

Participants discussed the implementation of the policies in localities while offering proposals on human resources, financial capacity and policies to assist targeted subjects.

They reached consensus on several measures that need to be carried out in the future relating to information and mobilisation work, and the improvement of medical staff contingent at grassroots levels.

They stressed the need for Central Highlands provinces to encourage local residents to subscribe to health insurance and create favourable conditions for them to enjoy the service. Maternal and child health care campaigns and socialisation to encourage people to improve their health were also touched on at the event.

Since 2008, the NA has invested 14.35 trillion VND of government bonds to build and upgrade hospitals and help rural residents, especially those living in remote and island areas, gain access to health care services.

The central region and the Central Highlands have recorded remarkable achievements in health care with almost 62 percent of regional people having health insurance. The Central Highlands has 80 percent of its population involved in health insureance. About 90 percent of pregnant women have been injected against tetanus and the proportion of malnourished children has dropped by 18 percent./.