1. Deployment of artificial intelligence at island commune medical station
For the first time in the country, people in Thanh An island commune in Can Gio outlying district have got access to cervical cancer screening services with the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Previously, 1 year ago, the Department of Health deployed an AI application for chest X-rays, this application helped medical staff at the island commune health station quickly detect lesions on X-rays when no doctors specializing in diagnostic imaging agreed to work in the island commune.
2. End of patient overload at Ho Chi Minh City Oncology and Children's Hospital 1
Severe patient overload has lasted for many years at the two leading specialized hospitals including the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital and the Children's Hospital No.1 as the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital’s second branch was opened on April 15 and the Children Hospital No.1’s Pediatric Surgery Center and Neonatal Center was inaugurated on May 27. Investment in both facilities is taken from the city’s state budget.
3. Elderly people receive free-of-charge healthcare examination
Elderly people in the city receive free-of-charge healthcare examinations and non-communicable disease screening. The disease model of the elderly in the city serves as a practical basis for the health sector to develop specific plans to help manage care and improve the quality of life for the elderly.
4. Identification of 7 groups of solutions for specialized medical development of Ho Chi Minh City's health sector
The first conference ‘Effective assessment and orientation for specialized medical development in Ho Chi Minh City’ was successfully held on June 17. From practical experience in people's health care and lessons learned from other countries, Ho Chi Minh City's health sector has identified 7 groups of solutions, regarding development directions and tasks until 2030, with a vision to 2045..
5. International cooperation to improve disease control and prevention capacity
The signing ceremony of a comprehensive cooperation agreement between the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) and the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) - a large-scale clinical and public health research unit - took place on August 31. This important event has opened up new opportunities to help improve the capacity of HCDC, through technical transfer activities on diagnosing infectious pathogens, including isolating and detecting molecular biology and gene decoding methods, disease control, public health research, and comprehensive impact assessment of prevention policies.
6. Cooperation agreements signed between health departments in the region
The Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh City has signed cooperation and development agreements with health departments of 18 provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta and the Southeast region to promote cooperation, experience sharing, technology transfer and training of professional human resources between leading general and specialized hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces and cities.
In addition, signing cooperation and development agreements also helps improve the quality of people's health care by connecting data and information in disease prevention and building a network of specialized care and treatment on a regional scale.
7. Specific policy for development of community health collaborator network approved
The resolution stipulating the spending level to support community health collaborators in Ho Chi Minh City was approved at the twelfth meeting of the municipal People's Council on November 11. On the next day, the city People's Committee issued a decision to implement the project ‘Special policy to develop a network of community health collaborators in Ho Chi Minh City’. This is a particularly important policy for the health sector to build and develop a network of community health collaborators citywide.
8. Improvement of health officials and employees’ capacity who are leaders at public service infirmaries
The city's health sector implements a job rotation program for young managers so that these managers can gain exposure to different jobs and have opportunities to learn more; thus, their experience in management work will be increased to assume responsibility for leadership positions in different infirmaries.
2023 is also the first year that directors of general hospitals, specialized hospitals in the city, district hospitals and medical centers participated in specialized training courses to update management knowledge, finance, and medical equipment bidding management. The course was lectured by experts from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health and the State Audit.
9. Conversion of the public service portal of the health sector into the city's administrative procedure information system, and deployment of pharmacy practice data to the city's shared data warehouse.
From August 1, the Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh City officially converted the Public Service Portal in the health sector into the City's Administrative Procedures Information System. It officially receives public service records on the city's shared electronic one-stop information system. At the same time, the Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh City has also digitized the pharmacy practice data source of more than 11,000 practice certificates and more than 10,000 business licenses of business establishments as well as connecting this data with the city’s data warehouse.
10. Strengthened control and tough penalties on illegal advertising activities in the medical field
In the face of rampant illegal advertising on social networking platforms in the medical field with over-advertising affecting people's health and lives, the Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh City and other departments, agencies and the police force agreed to liaise for increased effectiveness and efficiency of management for advertising activities in the medical field.
