The situation of Vietnam’s healthcare sector in the coming days is extremely tragic. From March 1, Viet Duc Hospital will limit the number of surgeries to prioritize supplies and chemicals for emergency treatment. On the evening of February 23, Hanoi Viet Duc Hospital said that this hospital will have to limit surgery sessions due to a shortage of medical supplies and chemicals.
Not only Viet Duc Hospital, but also on February 23, the Director of Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City also said, “If we continue to wait for 3 price quotations for bidding, the hospital will definitely stop operating.” This director affirmed that the price of the bidding package is the hospital’s most difficult problem. If theyu continue to wait for 3 quotes, the hospital will definitely temporarily stop working because there are not enough chemicals.
It is known that the shortage of chemicals, medicine and equipment was also very serious in April 2022, when Nguyen Thanh Long was still the Minister of Health. Thus, after his arrest, the situation of the Ministry of Health remained unchanged. The story of shortage of medicine and equipment is coming back. If not resolved, the patient will be the victim of this irresponsible situation.
(Vietnam’s government bidding regulation requites price quotations from at least three different providers)
While serious shortages are happening in hospitals, what is Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan doing?
On February 24, Dao Hong Lan went to the Government Office to meet Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh again to celebrate the achievements of the healthcare sector. This conference is considered to be the implementation of medical work in 2023 and the celebration of Vietnam Doctors’ Day (February 27). During this conference, PM Chinh and Minister Lan were engrossed in celebrating the achievements of 2022. They boasted that in 2022, the healthcare sector surpassed and achieved all 3 targets assigned by the National Assembly.
The situation of Vietnam’s healthcare in 2022 is terrible, that’s the reality. It is expected that after the arrest of Long, the sector will be better under Dao Hong Lan’s leadership, but no, it seems that she has done nothing to improve this sector, which is already too corrupt. If the Government or a ministry is too busy praising achievements, they will not see the weak points that need to be corrected.
Achievement sickness is a chronic disease of this regime. The Communist Party has long been self-satisfied with what they do, even though they do it badly. This is called regime blindness. Minister Lan still follows the old pattern, combined with PM Chinh who also follows the old pattern, it is very difficult to change anything.
Talking about healthcare and education policies, many countries around the world deduct huge budgets for free healthcare, free education, or at least subsidized prices for the people, so that everyone can access them with cheap medical services and cheap education. However, this regime is completely different. They spend very little on health care and education, they are very irresponsible to people’s lives, but they always chant the slogan that “a socialist state is a state of the people, by the people and for the people”. Meanwhile, they see the people as an object for them to take advantage of.
A large hospital like Cho Ray Hospital but is in serious shortage of medicine, chemicals and equipment. This is a high-level hospital, only cases that the lower levels can’t handle are transferred to this hospital. That is to say, patients come to this hospital to fight for their lives, but the hospital is in a state of shortage. If the government don’t solve this problem quickly, it’s a crime. It is unclear whether know if Minister Dao Hong Lan thought of this or not?
Vietnam’s healthcare sector is very bad. Officials compete with each other for corrupting state resources. Management capacity is limited, so all kinds of procedures make the hospital difficult. Just like that, the vicious circle does not know when to end.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
