Fortis Healthcare (India) buy 65% stakes of Hoan My Medical Group.— Source: dddn.com.vn HCM CITY (VNS)— Foreign direct investment (FDI) for the domestic health care sector this year may remain at a standstill even though investors are making efforts to complete plans for projects that are overdue. A staff member of the Viet Nam Foreign Investment Agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Viet Nam News that she did not see any good signs for FDI in the sector this year.She also said that the healthcare sector seemed to be less attractive to foreign investors, who have complained about difficult procedures and conditions.She explained that the sector required an investor to put up at least US$20 million to open a new hospital and $2 million to open a new clinic."In current difficult economic times, this capital is not small," she said."There is now a big project invested in by Germany. The investors really want to implement it, but they may face many … [Read more...] about Foreign investment in healthcare sector stagnant
Healthcare
IT helps improve healthcare quality at hospitals
HCM CITY (VNS)— Advanced information technology systems have helped hospitals in Viet Nam improve their healthcare services, according to the head of the Medical Services Administration. Dr Luong Ngoc Khue spoke at a two-day conference held in HCM City last week on healthcare services. It was organised by the department in collaboration with the European Union. A survey of 34 hospitals in 48 provinces and cities nationwide showed that only 27 of them had applied technology applications to improve their healthcare services, according to Khue. Dr Tang Chi Thuong, the head of the Peadiatric Hospital No.1, said his staff had used patient-record management software and e-prescription software. E-prescriptions allow doctors to write and send complete and accurate prescriptions that help reduce potential errors, including illegible handwriting, formula errors, dosage questions and potential allergy and drug interaction risks, according to Thuong. With the use of IT, hospital … [Read more...] about IT helps improve healthcare quality at hospitals
Nation to spend $608m to improve healthcare
Vietnam will spend VND12.77 trillion (over $608 million) between now and 2015 to improve the country's healthcare system, according to a new National Target Health Programme approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung recently. Children wait for medical treatment at the National Hospital of Pediatrics. The programme aims to actively prevent dangerous diseases and detect and stamp out epidemics early. To carry out the programme, the State Budget will provide around VND6.68 trillion ($318 million); local budgets will add VND3.55 trillion (over $169 million); VND1.34 trillion ($63,8 million) will be mobilised from international assistance and the remainder will come from other sources. The programme sets out to improve community awareness about cancer prevention and early detection of cancer. The goal is to increase the rate of cancer patients who are diagnosed in the early stages of the disease to … [Read more...] about Nation to spend $608m to improve healthcare
Healthcare facilities for islands in the pipeline
HCM CITY (VNS) — The Government plans to allocate VND8.2 trillion (US$390.5 million) to develop healthcare facilities on the country's islands, according to the Ministry of Health.The ministry is currently drafting a plan that would outline activities through 2020. Work would begin next year on both hospitals and health clinics, said Dr Nguyen Hoang Long, deputy head of the Finance and Planning Department under the Ministry of Health. Speaking at a workshop held yesterday in HCM City, Long said the Government would invest in upgrading existing hospitals and build new ones to support emergency aid for the islands.Work will be done on the Institute of Maritime Medicine in Hai Phong, Military Hospital No4 in Nghe An Province and C Hospital in Da Nang. Hospital 87 in Nha Trang, the Medical Centre at Vung Tau Petro and Military Hospital No78 on Phu Quoc Island will also be upgraded.Under the plan, health clinics in island districts will be renovated and equipped with modern machines, … [Read more...] about Healthcare facilities for islands in the pipeline
WHO funds healthcare
HCM CITY — The World Health Organisation (WHO) will provide Viet Nam with more than US$22 million in aid towards developing the domestic health sector in 2012 and 2013, according to the Ministry of Health. Some of the areas in which Viet Nam will continue to receive WHO aid are prevention of infectious and non-infectious diseases, improvement of health care for mother and children, and health policy adjustments, Wu Guogao, WHO country representative, said at a recent workshop. Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen said WHO had provided a lot of valuable assistance to Viet Nam's healthcare sector for many years. She said technical assistance and expertise provided by WHO had helped improve policy, expedite administrative reforms and promote health insurance. WHO assistance had helped improve the quality of doctors and other medical staff, and the quality of healthcare in the country, she added. — VNS … [Read more...] about WHO funds healthcare
Siemens rolls out healthcare diagnostics products
HCM CITY— The Siemens Healthcare Day 2012 event was organised yesterday for the first time in HCM City to introduce the company's comprehensive portfolio of diagnostics products and solutions. With the theme, "A happier world begins with a healthier world," about 300 laboratory managers, medical technologists and hospital administrators from various medical institutions across the country attended the half-day symposium. Discussions centered on the latest breakthroughs in laboratory diagnostics, the clinical utility of Vitamin D testing and testing solutions for liver health. Along with medical imaging, clinical laboratory diagnostics helps to provide clinicians with the vital information they need in order to diagnose diseases accurately with higher confidence. — VNS … [Read more...] about Siemens rolls out healthcare diagnostics products
Industry parks lack women’s healthcare
HAI DUONG — Deputy director of Hai Duong Department of Health, Do Thi Thanh Xuan, said more than 570 cases of abortion were reported in the province in the first six month this year, and nearly 300 of them were workers from industrial zones. But Hoang Thi Thu, head of the provincial Labour Federation's Woman Association, said that while taking care of female workers' reproductive health was important, few enterprises in the province paid much attention to it. The province now has nearly 200 industrial enterprises in the nine industrial zones – and 70 per cent of their workers are female. However, only 40 per cent of them receive gynaecology checks during their annual health review. Thu said it was difficult to arrange training courses to help the women and girls as they often worked overtime. Most healthcare information in the province was generally given in the home. She said industrial zones in the province did not have medical stations to treat or help workers and … [Read more...] about Industry parks lack women’s healthcare
HCM City calls for more Belgian healthcare help
HCM CITY — HCM City needed further support from Belgium to help expand its healthcare system, Hua Ngoc Thuan, deputy chairman of the City People's Committee, told visiting Belgian delegation headed by Crown Prince Philippe at a meeting yesterday. Thuan said Belgium had helped HCM City improve the quality of its healthcare and the professional skills of medical personnel. "Several joint projects have been doing well, especially those involving transfer of medical knowledge." Expanding international co-operation was urgent and vital because the city was the healthcare hub of the southern region, he said. To offer the best healthcare services for residents, the city was constantly upgrading and expanding the system, but remained unable to meet the relentlessly increasing needs, he said. Nguyen Tan Binh, deputy head of the Department of Health, said since 2000 his department had received almost 1,600 foreign delegations seeking healthcare co-operation with the city. He sought … [Read more...] about HCM City calls for more Belgian healthcare help
Experts call for local healthcare rethink
HA NOI (VNS)— Medical experts have called for the healthcare system to be strengthened at grass roots levels in order to improve primary health care for people across the country.Deputy minister of health Nguyen Quang Cuong said at a workshop yesterday that people do not trust the healthcare system at community level due to weaknesses in examination and treatment quality."That's why they go to central hospitals for treatment, which creates patient overload at these establishments and increases the expense of treatment, not only for patients but for society in general," explained Cuong. "It is necessary to consolidate the system at grassroots levels in order to better the primary healthcare," he said.Ministry of Health statistics show that at local level there are 561 district hospitals, 686 regional general medical clinics and over 111,100 communal health clinics. Over 96,500 medical staff cover communes and hamlets nation-wide.Figures suggest that around 73 per cent of … [Read more...] about Experts call for local healthcare rethink
Transparency the key to making Viet Nam healthcare affordable
William Haseltine, a former Harvard Medical School professor and founder of ACCESS Health International*, spoke to Viet Nam News about lessons that can be learned from his new book Affordable Excellence: The Singapore Healthcare Story.Why did you focus on Singapore's healthcare system in "Affordable Excellence"? Countries around the world are facing the tough issue of how their healthcare systems can cope with an increasingly ageing population at a cost they can afford. Most governments are concerned about health outcomes and ensuring the needs of their population can be met without costs spiraling.Singapore today ranks sixth in the world in healthcare outcomes - well-ahead of many developed countries, including the United States. It spends less on healthcare than any other high-income country, both as measured by fraction of the Gross Domestic Product spent on health and by cost per person.The lessons drawn from Singapore should interest those currently planning the future of … [Read more...] about Transparency the key to making Viet Nam healthcare affordable