BINH THUAN HEALTH SECTOR

CONTRIBUTES TO RAISE THE QUALITY

OF THE PEOPLE’S LIFE

Binh Thuan, one of the nine key provinces in the Southeast of Vietnam, has gained many socio-economic achievements over the past years, to which the province's health sector has contributed considerably.

 The health policies set by the Party and State of Vietnam in the early 21^st century emphasize the matter of equality and efficiency, in which equality is understood as to ensure health care opportunities for all people. The Binh Thuan Health Service has done a good work in this direction.

 Grassroots health care. Pursuant to Directive 06-CT/TW of the Provincial Party Committee Secretariat on “strengthening and perfecting the grassroots health network", and to Resolution 4 0f the Provincial Party Committee, the Binh Thuan's health sector has continued to send doctors to work at medical stations. Now 95 out of 115 communes in Binh Thuan have doctors (82%); the ratio of doctor to people is 4.3/10,000; 100% of the medical stations have midwives or obstetric and pediatric physicians. The Binh Thuan Health Service has carried out a lot of activities: opened health training courses for Duc Linh and Bac Binh districts; successfully held the Conference on implementing Directive 06 in the southeast in June 2002; provided some equipment for highland communes and ethnic communes in Ham Thuan Bac, Ham Thuan Nam and Bac Binh districts; equipped Dong Giang and Hoa Thang remote communes with ultrasonic machines.

Disease and epidemic prevention and control and health goals.

In the past years, the province's health sector has succeeded in preventing all epidemics. It has successfully implemented target health programs:

- Extensive immunization program: 95% of under-1 children have been vaccinated against 6 diseases. The rate of children under the immunization program infected with one of these diseases has been dramatically reduced.

- Petechial fever: the rate of petechial fever infection has been reduced by 73%; there has been no epidemic.

- Malaria prevention and control: the rate of malaria infection has been reduced by 52.2% ; there has been no epidemic spread and no death from malaria.

- Malnutrition prevention: the rate of under-5 malnourished children has been reduced by 32%.

- Maternal health protection and family planning: the rate of women giving births at public and private clinics was 88%; delivery risks were reduced by 28%.

- Leprosy prevention: 150.000 people or 100% have been checked up; 1,005 patients have been attended to.

- Tuberculosis prevention: 1,370 patients have been treated (100% of the target), 10,774 cases or 96% of the target have been discovered.

- Disease checkup and treatment: the average rate was 1.87 checkups/per-son/year; the number of in-patients was 84,395; the province and the health sector have equipped facilities for medical checkup and treatment.

Training activities: the sector has opened regularly training courses in medical checkup and treatment in areas, regions and levels. In January 2000, it held two training courses in health information and education for health workers from the provincial level to district level; IMCI skills training course in Ho Chi Minh City; training course for hamlet health workers in Tanh Linh, Ham Thuan Bac, and Tuy Phong districts. The sector also participates in the training courses held by the Ministry of health in Hanoi: training teachers “to instruct the planning of district-level health"; training in computer network management, etc. It also held seminars that aim to raise the quality of examination and treatment at medical stations across the province; seminar on integrated monitoring with the participation of district and province delegates, provided instructions on the contents concerning the implementation of medical map with the participation of affiliated agencies. Organizing excursions at home and abroad are also a con- tent in the training programs. The sector has organized excursions and initiated integrated monitoring work in Quang Ninh in July 2002 and implemented IMCI in Son La in September 2001; organized a working excursion to China in January and February 2002.

International cooperation is also an important part in the agenda of the sector. The Province People's Committee has paid much attention and enabled the sector regarding the cooperation in implementing the project developing the EC health network (a co-operation with the EU in supply of capital and facilities for the health sector). This is a project with the largest ever capital in Binh Thuan. This capital has been used to buy office equipment, photocopiers, LCD machines, vacuum cleaners, power generators (for Phu Quy island district), facilities for health education and communication. Most EU experts show a friendly attitude in this cooperation for mutual development. The Vietnamese side tries its best to carry out the commitment it makes in the finance agreement, i.e provide committed capital to repair and upgrade the medical institutions to make them able to accept facilities; send competent cadres to involve in the programs, creates most favorable conditions for the visiting delegations. In its early stages, the project has made right steps as signed in the finance agreement. Given the lack of funding, this protect shows to be of a great significance, especially because it targets disadvantaged, mountain, ethnic areas with a focus on maternal and child health.

The goals of the Binh Thuan health sector from now to 2010 are to raise the quality of medical examination and treatment, to supply needed medicine and medical facilities; to upgrade and build material base; to do research on application of sciences and technologies into disease prevention, functional rehabilitation and health improvement so as to keep up with the advanced level of development of sciences and technologies.

To strengthen, consolidate and raise the quality of the grassroots health network, ensuring that it can meet the needs of the people for primary health care. To try to fulfill the target set for 2005: 100% communes have doctors, 100% have midwives or pediatric and obstetric physicians, and the ratio of 05 doctors 110,000 people in the whole province. The fulfillment of this target requires that the health sector should restructure the grassroots health network towards a fair distribution in residential areas, downsizing the mechanism, merging inter-commune family planning centers with medical stations or local general consulting rooms.

Promote the activities in the preventive health care. To try to reduce the rate of communicable diseases by 15-20% annually against the previous year; 80% of the households have access to clean water, 75% have hygienic toilets, to eliminate leprosy, infant tetanus. To raise the investment in preventive medicine  following the motto: “Prevention is better than cure". To make use of the State funds, other sources, and contributions by People and social organizations in order to socialize people's health protection.

To guarantee equal people's healthcare. To pay attention to those who have rendered merits to the country, to poor people, the elderly, women, children and ethnic people. To promote the program to prevent child malnutrition. To control such specific diseases as paralysis, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid, etc.

The traditional medical network has always been strengthened and developed in Parallel with modern medicine: traditional medicine hospital, traditional medicine department, and traditional-method diagnosis and treatment rooms. Experienced Physicians are encouraged to establish services using traditional methods.

It is essential to develop and raise the capacity of medical workers so as to achieve such goals. The province's health sector has set forth specific plans: to continue to promote training and skills ' raising courses for health workers. By 2005, try so that 100% of heads and deputy heads of department in province-level and district-level hospitals have Master degree, over 90% of Party members have Bachelor's degree and trained in politics theory at immediate level and 1 higher; by 2010 the sector will have 15-20 masters, 5-7 Ph.D, 50% ofthe health workers know a foreign language at an advanced level. To focus on providing in-deep training, on-the-spot training for grassroots health workers, address-based training, home and overseas training.

To socialize the whole health sector, to involve al the people in health care activities. To diversity forms of health care, to expand forms of health insurance, to abolish subsidies in the mechanism managing health insurance. To urge benevolent people build or fund free of charge medical institutions. To create conditions for those who want to establish non-public medical institutions such as private hospitals, joint venture hospitals, convalesce centers, etc.

With the current pace of development that will be accelerated in the future, all agencies, branches in Binh Thuan province will have to try their utmost to meet the general needs for development. The health sector continues to be an indispensable link in the chain of caring for people's health and raising the quality of people's life./.

THANH LIEM