Integrating technical services and traditional remedies into the health insurance payment list
On the afternoon of May 20, at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, General Secretary and President To Lam chaired a working session with the Party Committee of the Ministry of Health on traditional medicine in Vietnam.
Attending the working session were Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra.
At the working session, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan reported on the work of Vietnamese traditional medicine.
After listening to the report and exchanged opinions, at the working session, in his concluding speech, the General Secretary and President emphasized the need for a new mindset, a new vision and a new approach to create a historic turning point for Vietnamese traditional medicine.
Clearly stating the strategic orientations for the development of traditional medicine in Vietnam, the General Secretary and President requested to place the development of traditional medicine in the overall development strategy of the country in the new period; develop a national traditional medicine ecosystem, viewing traditional medicine in relation to the national health and soft power economic development strategy;
It is necessary to study and expand a number of pilot models of health care centers, nutritional areas, health recovery areas, medicinal herb villages, medicinal herb development areas associated with sustainable poverty reduction and ecotourism...
According to General Secretary and President To Lam, the key to bringing traditional medicine closer to the people is to integrate technical services and authentic traditional remedies into the comprehensive payment list for national health insurance. When people are covered by insurance in a fair way, they will proactively choose traditional medicine right from the grassroots level.
The General Secretary and President noted that it is especially important to promote science, technology and digital transformation, protect intellectual property to standardize and digitize Vietnamese traditional medicine; urgently digitize the entire treasure, family remedies, and precious indigenous knowledge of Vietnamese ethnic groups; build and complete the national database on traditional medicine;
Research and build, consolidate a number of strong traditional medicine centers of national and regional scale, not only for examination and treatment but also as research, training, preservation, technology transfer, product development and promotion of Vietnamese medical culture.
Do not allow extreme commercialization and false advertising.
General Secretary and President noted that it is necessary to integrate Eastern and Western medicine in the direction of authentic medicine, the two medical systems cannot be opposed but must perfectly complement each other.
The General Secretary and President also clearly stated that it is necessary to improve the efficiency of state management in the spirit of both constructive and strict management, management cannot be relaxed; it is necessary to resolutely handle strictly and not tolerate violations and profiteering on people's health.
To elevate traditional medicine, the human factor is the decisive factor, it is necessary to improve the quality of enrollment and reform the training program for traditional medicine doctors at major medical and pharmaceutical universities. Traditional medicine doctors must be knowledgeable about both traditional medicine theory and modern paraclinical achievements of Western medicine, always remember Uncle Ho's teachings: "Doctors are like mothers".
For traditional medicine, first of all, it is medical ethics, not allowing extremist commercialization, false advertising, and unscientific treatment to affect people's beliefs. This is not only a requirement of professional ethics but also a foundation to protect the true values of traditional folk medicine and preserve people's trust.
The General Secretary and President requested the Party Committee of the Ministry of Health to absorb the contributed opinions to coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors, advise on perfecting institutions; soon develop and submit for promulgation the Strategy for Development of Traditional Medicine in Vietnam to 2030, with a vision to 2045.
