25% of Vietnam Clinics Fail to Meet National Standards

As many as 25% of over 11,000 communal health centers across Vietnam fail to provide adequate and qualified medical services in line with the national standards, the Ministry of Health said. The ministry made the statement at a meeting to review of the national standards for clinics in 2001-2010, as part of its efforts to raise the quality of services and to get more funding for the centers. The centers are found lacking medical equipment, doctors and preferential policies for their staff, Nguyen Hoang Long, deputy head of the ministry’s Finance and Planning Department, said. Poor medical hygiene and low-quality reproductive healthcare services are also on the list, he said, adding that such centers are mainly located in mountainous and remote areas, where low economic conditions are holding them back. Nevertheless, the introduction of standards had prompted provinces and cities to pay attention to communal health centers by pouring in more financial resources over the years, the ministry said. This had improved the quality of healthcare services from grass-roots level, helping reduce the overload burden on upper-level health centers. Currently, around 75% of the communal health centers or 8,100 reach the national criteria, including those in Quang Ninh, Phu Tho, Danang, Binh Thuan, Tay Ninh and Tien Giang. To raise financial resources for clinics, the ministry has issued a set of new criteria for the next 10 years. The new list has higher requirements such as standards on professional skills for doctors, health insurance rates among patients and health education information. (Vietnam News Dec 23 p3, baodientu.chinhphu.vn Dec 20)