Investment in the latest technologies will bring treatment up to global standard, says Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan.
Mr Nhan on February 26 urged the Ministry of Health (MoH) to work with the Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) to improve health treatment for national defence and police forces.
He made the statement during a visit to the MoPS’s Traditional Medicine Hospital and the 19 August Hospital to mark Vietnamese Physicians’ Day which falls on February 27.
He expressed his appreciation for health experts’ timely treatment of many patients.
The MoH needs to draft a national plan to develop traditional medicine and find ways of incorporating traditional medicine into cancer treatment, he said.
Hospitals across the nation held events on February 26 in honour of the holiday. Many offered free medicine and health check-ups, as well as training courses for local health staff.
On this occasion, awards have been handed out by the MoH to dozens of researchers for their work on vaccines and transplants, which have contributed to saving hundreds of lives in the country.
Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said the health sector has always focused on scientific research in order to apply modern technologies to the treatment of fatal diseases, especially leukaemia. These methods will help the country catch up with the world developments in technology, health examination and treatment.
Minister Tien said many patients have recovered from serious sickness thanks to these efforts.
Dr Nguyen Anh Tri, head of the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, said more than 40 patients have recovered from leukaemia after receiving blood transplants at the centre.
He said the institute has successfully applied the world’s most advanced treatment methods, which have been adapted to be suitable for Vietnamese patients.
Each patient pays US$75,000-100,000 for their blood cells transplanted overseas while the procedure costs only US$6,190-US$14,285 in the country, not to mention that a part of the .sum is covered by health insurance.
Pham Ngoc Dong, director of the Eye Bank of Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology, said Vietnamese doctors have now conducted corneal transplants that bring sight to the blind in a safer and faster way than ever before.
There are about 300,000 people who are blind due to cornea-related diseases, and the institute can conduct 100 corneal transplants per year, Dong said.
Minister Tien said such achievements raise hope that patients with potentially fatal diseases will get more attention and investment in the future.
Besides, the health sector will keep raising the quality of the examination and treatment systems, she added.
The MoH reported that more than 80 percent of commune medical clinics meet national standards. Doctors are present in 72 percent of communes and more than 95 percent of communes have a midwife or physician. Outbreaks of many dangerous illnesses such as avian flu, dengue fever and hand-foot-mouth diseases were controlled last year.
(VOV/VNS)
