Health Ministry announces top ten medial events in 2017

The Ministry of Health officially declared the top ten events of Vietnam’s health sector in 2017 on December 31.

The Military Hospital 103 in collaboration with Japanese experts successfully performed the first human lung transplants in Vietnam on a 6-year-old boy

1. The promulgation of the Party Central Committee Resolution No.20-NQ/TW on improvement of the people’s health and Resolution No.21-NQ/TW on population work in the new period

In 2017, the Party Central Committee issued the Resolution No.20-NQ/TW on strengthening the protection, care and improvement to the people’s health in new period and the Resolution No.21-NQ/TW on population work in new period. The two Resolutions were issued to replace the Resolution issued 25 years ago in 1992 with the aim of enhancing both physical and mental health, the expectancy and quality of life for the Vietnamese people.

2. Wages of health workers counted in medical services

Wages for health workers were counted in the medical services at public hospitals for the first time in 2017, contributing to improving the quality of health examination and treatment and increasing the coverage of health insurance to nearly 86%.
In particular, the pricing scheme will create conditions for hospitals to improve the quality of health services and better serve insurance card holders while encouraging grassroots hospitals to develop medical techniques to reduce overload for central hospital. The scheme does not affect policy beneficiaries, children under six years old, needy people while encouraging the people to buy health insurance.

3. Streamlined organisational apparatus

In 2017, the health sector rearranged the medical system and streamlining the apparatus by merging medical centres without beds into provincial or municipal disease control centres. Thus, each province will cut down five medical centres without beds and all 63 provinces and cities nationwide are expected to reduce 315 medical centres, resulting in the elimination of at least 1,260 leadership positions in addition to the reduction of staffing and saving State budget.

4. Many scientific and technological advances successfully applied in organ transplants

The Military Hospital 103 in collaboration with Japanese experts successfully performed the first human lung transplants in Vietnam on a 6-year-old boy on February 21, 2017. 10-year-old boy Nguyen Thanh Dat also became the youngest patient in Vietnam to receive a heart transplant after undergoing a10-hour surgery by doctors from the Viet Duc Hospital to have the heart of a 19-year-old man on March 15.

The Cho Ray Hospital set up eight Vietnamese records in the transplant area recognised by the Vietnam Book of Records including "the hospital that performed the first kidney transplant from a brain-death donor in Vietnam"; “the first to carry out a kidney transplant procedure from a non-heart-beating donor in Vietnam"; "the unit performs the most kidney transplants in Vietnam"; "organising the transport of the longest journey for a donated organ from South to North to save people"; "implementing the first kidney transplant from a brain-death donor in Vietnam"; "carrying out the first kidney transplant from the first non-heart-beating donor in the country" ;"organising the longest transport route for a donated organ from the South to the North in order to save people" ; and "implementing the first cross kidney transplant in Vietnam."

5. Creation of personal health records at commune health stations and implementation of the health promotion project

For the first time, the individual health records associated with universal health insurance were established in 2017. With over 11,400 commune-level health stations, 78% of which have doctors thus the management of personal health records will be very convenient. The establishment of personal health records and the coverage of health insurance will be one of the steps to carry out comprehensive health care for the people at the grassroots level.

6. The launch of the national immunisation information system

A National Immunisation Information System was launched on March 24, 2017 and was carried out on the national scale in 60 provinces and cities since June 1, 2017. So far, the system has recorded 8,713,381 people. The system ensures the lifetime management of all immunized people including children and women through their ID and people can search for their electronic immunisation records.

7. Centralised drug procurement bid to reduce drug prices, save budget

The national centralised drug procurement centre has carried out the first ever national centralised bidding for procurement of five active substances and 22 types of drugs. The total bid price was more than VND2.269 trillion (US$100 million) while the estimated prices of these pharmaceutical products were VND2.746 trillion (US$121 million), helping save over VND477 billion (US$21 million).

8. Vietnam successfully produces measles-rubella vaccine

Vietnam is proud to be one of the four Asian countries capable of producing measles-rubella vaccine after China, Japan and India. This is the first time Vietnam has produced 2 in 1 vaccine on the modern technology lines. The vaccine was approved by the Health Ministry in March 2017 to be put into circulation. The vaccine project was completed one year earlier than scheduled.

9. Kidney dialysis incident at Hoa Binh General Hospital.

Eighteen patients undergoing hemodialysis at the Hoa Binh General Hospital on May 29, 2017 suffered signs of anaphylactic shock after one hour of hemodialysis. Eight of them died while ten other were promptly transferred to Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi.

The Ministry of Public Security’s Criminal Science Institute announced that water samples from dialysis machines number 10 and 13 had a low level of potential of hydrogen (pH) and high conductivity; the florua level in machines number 10 and 13 were 245 and 260 times higher, respectively, than permissible limit of Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI).
The other dialysis machines tested also had higher florua levels than permitted. This is one of Vietnam’s most serious medical incidents.

10. Violence, attacks on health workers

The community and the media condemned violence against and attacks on health workers including the cases at the Thach That Hospital in Hanoi, Hospital 115 in Nghe An, Huong Long Health Station in Ha Tinh, Vietnam – Cuba Friendship Hospital in Dong Hoi, Hospital 115 in Thai Binh, among others.
The health sector also called on the authorities and law enforcement agencies to consider and apply appropriate punishments on those who have committed violence against health workers in order to ensure the safety of doctors in their workplace.

(Source: NDO)