The Ministry of Health held a meeting to mark Vietnamese Physicians’ Day (February 27), review the one-year response to the movement to study and follow heroic martyr, doctor Dang Thuy Tram and launch a movement to “Study and follow President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example”.

On behalf of the government, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung highly valued achievements made by professors, doctors and health staff in the past year, including the successful efforts to control and prevent the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and avian flu type A H5N1, expand the health care system, enhance the quality of medical check-ups and treatment, and provide medical check-ups and treatment free for 44 million poor people and under-six-year-old children.

The health sector positively contributed to the nation’s overall achievements not only in 2006 but also in the past five years.

The health sector also played a major role in the country’s quality of growth, Prime Minister Dung said, adding that the sector should expand the scale of services with a focus on developing a system of healthcare establishments from the commune to central levels to deal with a severe shortage of beds at central hospitals.

The Prime Minister asked the sector to quickly renew the management of hospitals in line with the resolutions of the 10^th National Party Congress. It is necessary to decentralize hospitals to enhance their independent and responsible services, PM Dung said.

To meet the increasing demand for medical check-ups and treatment, PM Dung asked the health sector to socialize medical activities to attract greater attention from economic sectors and improve the quality of doctors and health staff to better serve people.

PM Dung stressed that reviewing the one-year response to the movement to study and follow heroic martyr, doctor Dang Thuy Tram and launching the movement to “Study and follow President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example” are of great significance to the health sector. The State has adopted policies and incentives aimed at improving health staff’s incomes and encouraging them to work at full capacity.