Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen made the affirmation in Hanoi on Nov. 23 concerning the development of human resources for medical services in disadvantaged areas .

Deputy Minister Xuyen said that the key is to improve medical services in both quantity and quality through incentives to encourage and keep medical workers to work in those areas.

The conference was jointly held by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Asia-Pacific Action Alliance on Human Resources for Health.

According to WHO, about 50 percent of the world population live in rural areas but only 38 percent of nurses and 25 percent of doctors work there.