The European Union has signed a EUR39.25 million (USD52.66 million) financing agreement for a health policy support programme in Vietnam.
Many hospitals suffering from severe overcrowding
The agreement was clinched on December 6 in the Belgian capital of Brussels between Vietnamese Minister of Finance Vuong Dinh Hue and Dirk Meganck, Director for Asia, EuropeAid Development and Cooperation Directorate General, acting on behalf of the European Commission.
The funding aims at supporting Vietnam's efforts to improve access to public health services and to increase the quality of service delivery, especially to the poor and most vulnerable, through a more effective, efficient and equitable health system.
With its specific focus on the implementation of Vietnam’s five-year health plan ranging from 2011- 2015, the programme is expected to help improve the nation’s health policy and support the sector's reform.
The programme intends to contribute to strengthening the stewardship and regulatory functions of the Ministry of Health and promote more equitable and efficient health financing.
It will also help respond better to increasing demands of health promotion, prevention and care, in addition to improving access to pharmaceuticals, supply of vaccines and other technologies.
Hospital overcrowding
Hospitals across the country are currently suffering from severe overcrowding, with four to five patients in several facilities being forced to share a sickbed.
Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien recently admitted she had been shocked by the over-crowding at several Ho Chi Minh City hospitals during a recent inspection.
With limited land and rocketing population numbers, hospitals are buckling under the pressure. New hospitals continue to face site clearance problems, affecting their construction. Measures such as sending experienced doctors to local hospitals and the implementation of family doctors at a local level have not proved sufficiently effective to relieve the pressure on key national hospitals.
The minister acknowledged that medical check-up regulations were not strict enough, which meant patients often skipped visiting local hospitals and instead went directly to major hospitals compounding the problem.
