New York (VNA) – About 81 percent of patients questioned said they are satisfied with medical services in Vietnam,Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien cited an independent survey whiledelivering a speech at a United Nations meeting on September 23.

The UNHigh-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage took place in New York onSeptember 23 during the UN General Assembly (UNGA) high-level week. Themeeting, themed “Universal Health Coverage: Moving Together to Build aHealthier World”, broughttogether heads of state, political and health leaders, policy-makers anduniversal health coverage champions from 169 countries around the world.

Vietnam hasmade various efforts in strengthening the primary healthcare system to provide betterservices to its people and allow them to enjoy state- and healthinsurance-funded medical programmes, Tien said.

A primaryhealthcare system has been established from the central to grassroot levels inVietnam with more than 11,000 commune-based medical stations, most of whichhave at least a doctor, a nurse and a midwife working based on the model offamily medical practice, the minister said.

She cited the“Tracking Universal Health Coverage: 2017 Global Monitoring Report” jointlyproduced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Bank (WB), sayingVietnam scored 73 out of the 100 points in servicecoverage delivery index in the report, which was higher than the SoutheastAsia’s average score of 59 and the global average of 64.

About 90percent of the Vietnamese population is covered in healthinsurance and the Governmentof Vietnam subsidises 100 percent of premiums for the poor and 70 percent ofthe premiums for the near-poor, she added.

Universalhealthcare is a pathway toachieve Health-related Sustainable Development Goals, she continued,adding Vietnam has enforced 10reforms to enhance effectiveness of its healthcare system, particularlyimproving the competence of primary healthcare clinics to provide betterservices for both ill and healthy people.

Vietnam has reformed its financial mechanism andinvested in infrastructure development in the health sector while providingextra training for medical workers at primary healthcare service providers, Tien said, adding that the reforms havepromoted patient-centred care to make the patients more satisfied with the localmedical services.

The minister also said the biggest challenge to Vietnam’shealthcare sector is how to come up with a suitable financial mechanism foruniversal medical system as more funding have been allocated to pay fortreatment services rather than primary and preventive healthcare.

This UNHigh-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage aimed to garner financial and political commitmentsfrom countries and sustain health investments. The meeting was called for in December 2017 when the UN passed a resolutionon global health and foreign policy, addressing the health of the most vulnerablefor an inclusive society./.