The Minister of Health attended the UN General Assembly on universal health care coverage

       On 23rd September 2019, at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien - Minister of Health attended the UN whole meeting UN on Universal Health Coverage (UHC). With the theme of "Building a healthier world", the Conference attracted the participation of many heads of state, policymakers as well as senior leaders in the health field of country.

      Vietnam's Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien delivered a speech at the Conference, stating that Vietnam has made great efforts in strengthening the grassroots health system to provide health care. Initially better for the people, ensuring that people enjoy health care programs paid for by the state budget and health insurance. The grassroots health system is set up from the central to local levels with over 11,000 commune health stations. Most commune health stations have doctors, nurses, midwives, traditional medicine staff and operate on the principle of family medicine. According to a 2017 global health care monitoring report, conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank (WB), Vietnam's service coverage index reached 73/100 points. , can be considered quite high compared to the general level in Southeast Asia is 59/100 and globally is 64/100.

       The health insurance program currently reaches 90% of the insured population and the government subsidizes 100% of the health insurance premium for vulnerable people, those in difficult circumstances and 70% poor..

      Vietnam's Minister of Health said that, aware of the importance of the primary healthcare process, Vietnam has implemented 10 reform policies of Vietnam's Health Sector to strengthen the efficiency of the health system. , especially to improve the professional skills of the grassroots health system so that they can take care of health for both the sick and the healthy. However, the biggest challenge for the Vietnamese health sector is finding the appropriate financial mechanism for universal health care at the grassroots level, since resources are still focused on services. Treatment is essential while the budget for grassroots and preventive health services is very limited.

       Vietnam strives for all people to have access to health services

       On the sidelines of the meeting, participants from the World Economic Forum and Harvard University co-organized a meeting on investment and public-private partnership in primary health care to achieve the millennium goals. In 2030, Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien attended.

       Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that Vietnam has achieved impressive results on people's health. Vietnam has achieved nearly all of the Millennium Development Goals and is on the way to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The Government of Vietnam prioritizes and invests in health, helping Vietnam achieve significant socio-economic development achievements, making Vietnam a low-middle-income country.

       Currently, Vietnam has applied most modern techniques today, new regimens suitable for tuberculosis and drug-resistant TB with a very creative approach. The 2X strategy (X-ray for screening and Xpert for diagnostic confirmation) has developed a roadmap for implementation and a transformation plan that uses whole molecular biology techniques such as Xpert to replace the microscope used for 138 years. was part of Vietnam's plan.

       Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that Vietnam 's research shows that, within 4 years, active detection by Xpert can reduce tuberculosis by 46% compared to the usual way. From the research results, the National Tuberculosis Program has implemented the "2X" strategy (Xquang-Xpert) to proactively detect the effect 7 times higher than the current passive detection. This result has inspired the worldwide anti-tuberculosis community.

       Vietnam's Minister of Health once again reaffirmed his commitment to the international community to end tuberculosis by 2030.

       It is expected that from 25th - 26th September 2019, the Minister of Health will have a working visit to Harvard University, USA. The two sides will discuss cooperation activities between Harvard University and the Ministry of Health of Vietnam, in particular in the area of technical cooperation on strengthening primary health care, financial issues in health care, model and experience in health care development and human resource training issues./.