Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the meeting in Hanoi on June 23. (Photo: VNA)Explaining the drug and medical supplyshortages in some localities and central-level hospitals, the Ministry ofHealth (MoH) pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic, whose serious impacts in 2020and 2021 led to the scarcity of materials for production and surged prices andsubsequently made it more difficult to purchase medicine and medical supplies.
Notably, it noted, some localities andestablishments are afraid that they may commit wrongdoings or undergo examinationand inspection, so they didn’t dare to buy supplies.
In addition, resignation among healthworkers in the public sector has increased, the MoH said, blaming that on lowsalaries and allowances in the public health network, especially preventive medicineand grassroots health facilities, as well as high pressure, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
PM Chinh requested relevantministries and sectors to have a through grasp of the situation, analysecauses, and coordinate closely with each other to deal with the situation in atimely and effective manner.
He said the successful containment ofCOVID-19 has helped recover and develop the economy and society fast andsustainably. However, the pandemic remains complex in some countries whileother outbreaks like dengue fever, monkeypox, and hand-foot-mouth disease havemade the situation more complicated, the leader stressed.
Therefore, apart from increasing theanti-COVID-19 capacity, it is also necessary to reserve drugs, medicalsupplies, and manpower for coping with other outbreaks and providing healthcareservices for people, he said.
Stressing that caring for andprotecting people’s health is the first and foremost task, PM Chinh told the MoH towork with relevant agencies to review mechanisms, policies, and regulations ondrug and medical supply procurement while actively dealing with obstacles.
He ordered ensuring transparency andpreventing negative phenomena, corruption, and group interests in the tenderingprocess; enhancing management in the health and pharmaceutical sector;simplifying drug authorisation procedures; boosting power decentralisation indrug and medical supply procurement; and increasing examination andsupervision.
Regarding the resignation, the Governmentleader asked for overhauling regulations on the health sector’s apparatus and manpower,perfecting the rules on public - private partnership in the area, and pressing onwith the practice of autonomy at public health establishments.
He also demanded relevant agencies re-assess the manpower imbalance among localities, medical facilities atdifferent levels, and specialised branches to work out solutions while makingplans to arrange sufficient personnel for medical examination and treatment ina scientific, rational, and effective manner./.
VNA
