The Ho Chi Minh City People's Council yesterday coordinated with the HCMC Television Station and the city Department of Information and Communications to organize the program ‘People ask - Government answers’ with the theme: Developing the health system - Comprehensive health care for inhabitants.
Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council Huynh Thanh Nhan and Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Dung were attending the program.
In response to voter concerns about enhancing grassroots healthcare quality and attracting people to health stations for primary care, Director of the Department of Health Tang Chi Thuong stated that Ho Chi Minh City has recently invested in health station infrastructure, ensuring operational transitions align with family medicine principles.
Over the next period, the city will invest in renovating and upgrading 146 health clinics to align their operations with the principles of family medicine.
Starting in 2024, the health sector in Ho Chi Minh City implemented a new drug bidding process, moving from individual bidding to combined bidding for grassroots health facilities. This change aims to ensure a sufficient drug supply for health stations.
Therefore, the number of drugs available at grassroots health stations has been increased to 292 items, helping to meet the basic medical examination and treatment needs of local communities. This contributes to improving the quality of public healthcare.
Following voters' concerns about epidemics, especially influenza A, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) Nguyen Hong Tam affirmed that influenza A is not a new disease according to the announcement of the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to him, in Ho Chi Minh City, there has been no increase in the number of influenza A cases compared to previous years, and no deaths.
He recommended the adoption of preventative measures, including diligent personal hygiene practices such as regular handwashing with soap and cleansing of the nasal and oral cavities with saline solution. Furthermore, he advised maintaining body temperature, consuming a nutritious diet, engaging in regular physical activity, and utilizing masks in crowded environments, public transportation, and healthcare facilities.
Director of the Department of Health Tang Chi Thuong also affirmed that improving the capacity to prevent and control epidemics is one of the four key tasks of the Ho Chi Minh City health sector.
The HCMC Department of Health has proposed a project to the People's Committee titled ‘Strengthening the organization, apparatus and improving the capacity of the City Center for Disease Control'. This project aims to enhance the HCDC's ability to proactively monitor, forecast, and control epidemics, and to promote international cooperation to improve epidemic monitoring and warning capabilities.
