Continuing the 10th session of the 15th National Assembly, on the afternoon of October 20, Chairman of the Petition and Supervisory Committee Duong Thanh Binh presented the Report on the results of monitoring the settlement of voters' petitions sent to the 9th Session of the 15th National Assembly.
This report has pointed out a number of voters' recommendations on amending and supplementing policies for medical staff who are slow to be resolved.
Through many National Assembly sessions, voters in many localities have proposed amending and supplementing Decision No. 73 of the Prime Minister on special allowance regimes for civil servants, public employees, and workers in public health facilities and anti-epidemic allowances.
Monitoring shows that Decision No. 73 takes effect from February 15, 2012. The prescribed spending level has become outdated compared to the current cost level, while the salary regime has been adjusted many times. Specifically, the basic salary increased from 830,000 VND/month in 2011 to 2,340,000 VND/month in July 2024.
According to the report of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry is drafting a Decree regulating the regime of special allowances, anti-epidemic allowances and support for medical staff in villages and hamlets, expected to be submitted to the Government in October 2025.
The Ministry of Health is recommended to urgently submit to the Government to issue the above Decree to meet the legitimate aspirations of voters.
Proposal to adjust health allowances according to the new basic salary
Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Health previously proposed to adjust the allowances for on-duty, surgical, procedures, anti-epidemic allowances and food allowance levels in the direction of inheriting Decision No. 73/2011/QD-TTg, but updated on the basis of the new basic salary.
Currently, the Ministry of Health informs about the draft of a decree to adjust special allowance regimes in the health sector.
According to Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, the allocation of the health budget is currently being implemented according to the 2015 State Budget Law and Decision No. 30/2021/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister. In particular, the central budget will supplement localities that are not yet self-balanced, ensuring priority for disadvantaged areas, mountainous areas, border areas, and islands.
At the same time, the People's Council and the Provincial People's Committee shall base on the actual capacity of the locality to decide to allocate a minimum of 30% of the health budget for preventive medicine, prioritizing grassroots health in the spirit of Resolution No. 20-NQ/TW dated October 25, 2017 of the 6th Central Conference, 12th tenure.
The Minister said that the Government is directing the Ministry of Finance to develop principles, criteria and norms for allocating regular expenditure estimates for the period 2026-2030.
In that spirit, the Ministry of Health sent Official Letter No. 1259/BYT-KHTC dated March 7, 2025 to the Ministry of Finance, proposing to increase the spending quota and supplement regulations: Allocate a minimum of 30% for preventive medicine, a minimum of 40% for grassroots health care, and continue to prioritize hospitals in disadvantaged areas, as well as specific areas such as impetigo, tuberculosis, and mental health.
According to Minister Dao Hong Lan, implementing Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW dated September 9, 2025 of the Politburo on breakthrough solutions to improve people's health and Decision No. 150/QD-TTg dated January 16, 2025 of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Health is finalizing the draft Decree regulating a number of special allowance regimes for civil servants, public employees, workers and armed forces in public health facilities.
In particular, the proposed adjustment of key regimes include: On-duty allowances: Increase the ceiling for each on-duty session, along with support for meals, ensuring adequate work intensity and actual pressure at the grassroots level; Surgery - procedures allowances: payment for feces according to hospital class and role in the surgical team; The procedure allowance level is 0.3 times the surgical allowance of the same type; Anti-epidemic allowances: Become a stable regime, associated with the basic salary, support for preventive health forces, employees taking samples, vaccinating, monitoring diseases; Meal allowance support level: Updated higher, ensuring health for medical staff during duty.
All of the above items are inherited from Decision No. 73/2011/QD-TTg, but will be recalculated based on the new basic salary to accurately reflect the current income and price level.
With the basic salary from July 1, 2024 increased to VND 2,340,000/month, anchoring allowances to this figure will help increase the income of health workers significantly, while creating an automatic update mechanism when the State adjusts salaries in the future.
