Day: July 20, 2022

At many grassroots health stations, there are so many unbelievable true stories, like a black-and-white ultrasound machine still in use after more than 20 years at a district general hospital.

The old machine is also the only available ultrasound device at the hospital.

Another health station was granted a new ultrasound machine but it has been left unused for several years because no one at the station can operate it.

In major cities, a ward health station has only between five and seven staff members, even when the ward’s population reached 120,000-130,000, which means one medical worker has to manage the health issues of around 20,000 residents.

Still running well

The 20sq.m ultrasound room at the general hospital of Thuong Xuan district, in the central province of Thanh Hoa, is packed with patients every day. The black-and-white ultrasound machine here has worked for more than 20 years, serving over 90,000 residents in the district.

Dr. Le Thi Cam Tu, the ultrasound technician at the hospital, said as the machine is so old, the images are very poor.

According to the hospital’s Deputy Director Dr Cam Ba Thien, the hospital has 240 beds and 170 staff members. Thuong Xuan is a poor mountainous district, and the district hospital lacks medical equipment, meaning it struggles to meet the health care demands of the local people.

Dr Tu said before the pandemic, there were an average of 70 patients needing ultrasound examinations a day. The number dropped to between 40 – 50 a day during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the decision to allow COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms to quarantine and self-treat at home, which was meant to reduce pressure on medical establishments, grassroots health stations in mountainous areas faced even bigger difficulties.

Dr Duong Van Quan, deputy director of the health station of Tam Duong district, Lai Chau province, said in mountainous regions, many villages are located in far-flung areas and far from each other, while a communal health station usually has only five workers. They had to undertake an even bigger volume of work during the pandemic.

During April, there were more than 2,000 COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at home in Muong Khuong district of the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai.

Le Thi Nguyet, head of the medical station of Muong Khuong township, said her station had six staff members but five of them tested positive for COVID-19.

The medical station was in charge of managing COVID-19 patients who lived in nine mountainous villages and eight residential areas across the township. Few patients knew how to update their health condition on the COVID-19 app, requiring medical workers to go to their houses regularly to keep track of the situation.

Poor infrastructure and a shortage of equipment and personnel has plagued the grassroots health network for many years. Though the health sector has prioritised grassroots health facilities, especially those in disadvantaged areas, the scope and pace of investment remains modest.

Overloading due to a lack of personnel

According to regulations, a ward/communal-level health station can only have 12 staff members maximum, even though a ward in a big city may have a population of up to 130,000.

Therefore, during the fourth wave of COVID-19, the skyrocketing number of patients in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh inevitably led to overloads at ward health stations, with medical workers working around the clock but still unable to complete their work.

An example was the health station at ward 22 of Binh Thanh district, HCM City. Two doctors and three nurses at the station had to care for over 500 COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at home. At the same time, they were also responsible for the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the ward.

Joint circular 08/20027 of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Health stipulates that a ward/communal health station has a minimum of five medical workers, serving an average of 8,000 people. For an increase of 2,000-3,000 in population, the number of staff will be increased by one, but not more than 10, which means there would be 10 medical workers for 18,000 people.

Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the Health Department of Ho Chi Minh City, said the populations of wards in the city vary greatly, ranging from 20,000 to even 140,000, but the maximum number of staff members at ward health stations remains limited to 10. This problem has existed for decades.

Hanoi: weaknesses are obvious but there are no easy solutions

Director of Hanoi Health Department Tran Thi Nhi Ha said the ratio of grassroots medical workers is 6 per 10,000 people. The average national ratio is 7.4. The city currently has 579 ward/communal health stations under the management of 30 district-level health centres.

Some wards in the city have a population of up to 50,000, but their health stations would still be limited to 10 staff members maximum.

Ha added that district-level health centres in the city have only 8,838 staff members, including 1,213 doctors, or 13.7%.

As for the ward’s health stations, 66 out of the total 579 stations (or 11%) do not have a doctor.

According to Chairman of the People’s Committee of Hoang Mai district Nguyen Minh Tam, on a peak day, March 3, 1,721 COVID-19 patients lined up to make medical declarations at the health station of Hoang Liet ward, which was staffed by only 11 medical workers. The ward has a population of 90,000.

Despite the heavy workload, the income of grassroots medical workers is low, averaging 5-7 million VND a month (214-300 USD), plus around 2-3 million VND in allowances for pandemic prevention work.

As the pandemic drags on, besides regular duties, grassroots health workers are also tasked with prevention work such as COVID-19 vaccination and monitoring patients quarantined at home.

The medical workers are stretched thin, meaning there are no day-offs or holidays for them. Many had to work even when they were infected with COVID-19 themselves, to prevent disruptions in medical services.

It can be said that the grassroots health system, be that in rural or urban areas, has not received due attention and investment.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam Trade promotion Agency (VIETRADE) and the authorities of Dak Lak, which houses large durian plantation in the Central Highland, will run a hybrid consultation in exporting Vietnamese durians on July 22 to field queries from interested firms.

The event will take place in Dak Lak, allowing participation on Zoom.

In the past decade, Vietnam’s durian plantations have increased rapidly. From planted mainly in the Mekong Delta and a few places in the Southeast region, the tree now appear more and more in the Central Highlands.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Department of Crop Production, in 2021, the country’s durian output is estimated at 642,600 tonnes, up 15% year-on-year. Vietnam mainly exports the fruit in the form of frozen pulps.

China is the largest market for Vietnam’s fresh durian consumption. Since July 11 this year, it has permitted Vietnamese durians to be officially exported through all border gates.

Vietnamese durian is also increasingly showing a dominant position in Australia with a series of unique brands such as ASEAN Produce, Vin Eni, Basel, Uu Dam, and No1.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A delegation from the National Assembly (NA) of Laos led by Vice Chairwoman Sounthone Xayachack visited the northern province of Thai Nguyen on July 20.

Hosting a reception for the delegation, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Thanh Hai briefed the guests on the local socio-economic situation in 2021 and the first six months of this year, along with activities to strengthen its relationship with Lao localities.

Hai said he hopes the Lao NA Vice Chairwoman will continue to support Thai Nguyen in connecting and expanding cooperation with provinces in Laos across all fields, especially education-training and economy.

For her part, Sounthone hailed the socio-economic achievements of Thai Nguyen as well as the province’s comprehensive cooperation with Lao localities, especially in education-training, and highly valued Thai Nguyen’s timely assistance to Lao provinces during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has contributed to fostering the special friendship between the two nations.

The Lao NA Vice Chairwoman also thanked Thai Nguyen for supporting Lao students to study in the province, thus reinforcing the solidarity between the two countries.

Earlier the same day, the Lao delegation visited Thai Nguyen University where more than 1,300 international students from 16 countries, including 1,046 from Laos, are studying.

According to Associate Prof. Dr. Tran Thanh Van, Vice Executive Director of Thai Nguyen University, cooperation with Laos in training is not only a tradition but an international mission of the university.

He said that Thai Nguyen University will continue to apply measures to further enhance the training quality for Lao students, thus helping the neighbouring country develop human resources.

Sounthone said she was delighted to visit the university on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations and 45 years of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.

She lauded the performance of the university over the years, especially in training Lao students. She expressed her hope that the university will continue to assist Laos in human resources training to serve her country’s national development.

During their stay in Thai Nguyen, the Lao delegation also visited the Tan Cuong specialty tea region in Thai Nguyen city, and attended the afternoon sitting on July 20 as part of the seventh session of the provincial People’s Council.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and Vietnam Social Security (VSS) on July 20 signed a deal for coordination in disseminating policies and laws on social, health and unemployment insurance in the 2022 – 2026 period.

Speaking highly of bilateral cooperation, VNA General Director Vu Viet Trang said information about social, health and unemployment insurance, along with social security policies, has been widely covered by the VNA’s outlets to help people grasp the Party and State’s policies. Besides, by reflecting public opinions in a timely manner, news from the VNA has also proved useful for authorities to make appropriate amendments to policies.

The VNA has also expanded the coverage of relevant policies in foreign languages so as to help the international community understand Vietnam’s efforts and seek their support, she noted.

She underlined the necessity of the coordination deal renewal, especially when ministries, sectors and localities are working to carry out the socio-economic recovery and development programme and guarantee social security in the post-pandemic period.

Trang expressed her belief that thanks to their cooperation, the VNA and VSS will continue helping to effectively implement the Party, Government and National Assembly’s resolutions and ensure people benefit from policies.

VSS General Director Nguyen The Manh highlighted some achievements in implementing insurance policies, attributing those outcomes partly to contributions by press agencies, including the VNA.

He held that the bilateral communication cooperation has been carried out in a proactive, timely and effective manner, thus improving authorities, officials and people’s awareness of social and health insurance – one of the most important social security pillars of the country.

The official said he believes the implementation of this coordination deal will be successful to contribute to social security ensuring as targeted by the Party and State.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Four fishermen have been rescued 10 days after their boat went down off the central province of Binh Dinh near Phu Quy island, but the search for eight other crewmembers is ongoing.

The Office of the National Committee for Disaster Response and Search and Rescue said after receiving a report of the incident on July 10 it dispatched an airplane, while the Ministry of National Defence sent a ship to the scene.

At 9.30am on July 20, the rescue ship located a life vessel carrying seven crewmembers, but three had already succumbed to exhaustion. The four survivors will be sent to the mainland for treatment.

The rescued men said their fishing boat sank in strong seas, and the 15 workers on board escaped in two basket boats, one carrying seven people and another with eight. The seven-person boat drifted towards the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago

No information is available about the other boat.

The Ministry of National Defence is expected to dispatch more rescue aircraft on July 21.

In another move, four fishermen onboard 91464 TS fishing boat were rescued on July 20 by foreign ship PACIFICSPIRIT when their boat sank around 120 nautical miles off Khanh Hoa province.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Le Tien Chau hosted a reception for a delegation of overseas Vietnamese (OV) at the Vietnam Summer Camp 2022.

The delegation comprises more than 100 young OVs from 20 countries across the world.

Addressing the event, Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for OV Affairs Pham Quang Hieu said that the summer camp, held by the Foreign Ministry since 2004, is a chance for young OVs to experience life in Vietnam and explore the cultural tradition and history of their Fatherland, and meet and exchange with their peers in the country.

The 16-day camp will take participants through nine cities and provinces across Vietnam, giving them an insight into the culture, history, land and people of Vietnam, he said.

For his part, Chau said that along with other progammes such as “Xuan que huong” (Fatherland Spring) and tours to Truong Sa, the summer camp is a meaningful activity to connect OV students and their homeland as well as their fellow students in the localities they visit.

Chau expressed his hope that through the programme, Vietnamese youngsters around the globe will promote the Vietnamese tradition of solidarity, while working hard to make positive contributions to their host countries as well as the homeland.

At the meeting, Chau presented certificates of merit to eight students for outstanding academic performances as well as their excellent achievements in connecting the community and making contributions to the Fatherland.

Source: Vietnam News Agency