After a multi-day working trip to Truong Sa archipelago and DK1 rig, the working delegation of the Ministry of Health led by Prof. Dr. Tran Van Thuan - Deputy Minister of Health not only brought medicine, equipment or meaningful gifts, but also carried the determination to build a modern, sustainable and national strategic sea and island health system.
In an exchange with reporters, Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan emphasized: "Maritime and island healthcare is not only a social security issue, but also an important component of national defense and security. Protecting the health of soldiers and civilians on the island route is protecting national sovereignty early and from afar.
Island and sea healthcare cannot apply "land standards
The trip through Song Tu Tay, Nam Yet, Sinh Ton Dong, Da Tay A, Truong Sa islands and DK1 rig has helped the working delegation have a direct view of the living and working conditions of officers, soldiers and people at the forefront of waves and winds.
According to Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan, the thing that moved the delegation the most was that in the harsh sea, the island's health system still maintained stable operation, and many difficult cases were successfully treated right on the island thanks to professional support from the mainland.
I am very touched to meet young doctors who volunteer to work in Truong Sa. Some graduated as resident doctors but are still willing to put aside many opportunities on the mainland to contribute to remote islands. They are not only doctors but also soldiers protecting sea and island sovereignty," the Deputy Minister shared.
From practical surveys, leaders of the Ministry of Health believe that it is impossible to apply investment mechanisms, norms or health standards of the mainland to sea and island areas. This must be a specialized system, with higher requirements for human resources, medicines, equipment and emergency response capabilities.
For marine and island healthcare, there need to be separate regulations. The norms for equipment, medicine, and people must be very different from the mainland," the Deputy Minister emphasized.
According to the orientation of the Ministry of Health, in the coming time, it will continue to improve the special mechanism in budget allocation, public investment and procurement of medical supplies for the frontline island route, in order to ensure the ability to be on duty and handle emergency medical situations in the open sea.
Promoting air ambulances, remote consultations
One of the contents that the Ministry of Health is particularly interested in is improving the ambulance emergency capacity in the sea and island areas.
Reality over the past time shows that hundreds of emergency helicopter flights have been deployed to bring patients from Truong Sa to the mainland for timely treatment. According to Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan, this is a great effort of the State in ensuring the right to health care for soldiers and people in sea and island areas.
However, in the coming period, the health sector will not only stop at air ambulances but also develop synchronously sea ambulances, strengthen multi-layered emergency medical transportation systems, interconnected between military and civilian medicine.
The Ministry of Health also identified remote consultation as a key solution to improve professional capacity for the island route.
We need to further strengthen the combination of military and civilian medicine, especially remote consultation, to be able to intervene in complex cases right in the sea and islands with the support of the mainland," the Deputy Minister said.
Notably, the Ministry of Health is aiming to shift from a single coordinated support mechanism to a unified coordination model between forces in responding to epidemics, disasters and maritime emergencies. In which, the air ambulance process will continue to be institutionalized with a clearer legal corridor on costs, human resources and system activation mechanisms.
Community health care and preventive medicine must go first
Not only focusing on treatment, the Ministry of Health identifies preventive medicine as a particularly important "shield" for the closed island environment.
During the working trip, the delegation recorded many positive signs about community health in Truong Sa, especially the work of caring for women and children, nutrition and environmental sanitation.
We are very happy to see many healthy and agile babies on the island. This shows that the work of taking care of people's health, especially women and children, is being done very well," the Deputy Minister shared.
According to leaders of the Ministry of Health, the goal is that all children born and raised on the island must have access to preventive health care, vaccination, and nutrition like children on the mainland.
In the coming time, the Ministry of Health will closely coordinate with forces on the island to ensure a safe living environment, prevent infectious diseases from occurring, and at the same time improve the physical strength and stature of people in sea and island areas.
An image that left many impressions on the working delegation is the lush Nam medicine gardens on the floating islands in the middle of the sea. According to Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan, it is not only a source of medicinal herbs for treating common diseases but also a symbol of self-reliance and self-strengthening spirit in remote islands.
Completing a specific preferential treatment mechanism for island health forces
In addition to facilities and expertise, the Ministry of Health identifies people as the core factor for sustainable marine and island health development.
According to Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan, in the coming time, the Ministry of Health will advise the Government to complete a specific preferential treatment mechanism for health forces working in islands, in order to ensure professional rights, development opportunities and rear benefits for doctors and nurses.
We hope that no doctor who contributes to the sea and islands will be disadvantaged in terms of career development path," the Deputy Minister affirmed.
From small hospitals in the open sea to overnight helicopter trips to save people, the health sector is gradually building a "health fortress" at the forefront of the waves. That is not only a professional task, but also the presence of the State, the rear of the mainland for those who are day and night clinging to the sea and protecting the islands.
Investing in marine and island healthcare is also investing in sovereignty, national security and the sustainable development of the country in the future" - Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan emphasized.
