The second national forum seeking to further improve healthcare quality is taking place in Ho Chi Minh City on December 12-13. Jointly organized by the Ministry of Public Health and the European Union-funded Project on enhancing the building capacity of the health sector, the event allows health executives and workers to work together in building action programs to manage risks arising from diagnosis and treatment. New standards on hospital quality set out in 2013 are introduced to participants. According to Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Head of the Ministry’s Treatment and Examination Department, many documents were issued to enhance the quality of healthcare services. The health sector is, however, being challenged by hospital overload, loose management over private healthcare clinics, the certification of standard testing services conducted by hospitals, and drug abuse. Participants heard that the EU has assisted Vietnam to improve healthcare services with an official assistance package worth 168 million EUR in 2007-2013. It has agreed to provide 114 million EUR more for Vietnam’s health sector from now till 2017 to enable poor and near-poor people to access high-quality services in both hospitals and local medical stations. (Vietnamplus.vn Dec 12)
