Training policies needed

According to a report from the Ministry of Health, in the future, the demand for human resources in the health sector, especially health workers in remote areas will increase sharply. The shortage of health workers will become worse if there is no balance between training and recruitment. In fact, the number of health workers who are not regular members of public health agencies is very high in many localities.

Quang Trung, former director of the Ho Chi Minh health department says that to attract health workers to remote areas, there should be a plan to train and use cadres in order to ensure the quality and quantity of health workers at grassroots levels. Dao Ngoc Lan, director of the Yen Bai provincial health department agrees that the health sector workforce should be increased. It is important to adjust training programmes to focus on medical ethics and speed up the shift of cadres from the central to local level to train local health workers who meet the requirements of the sector.

Moreover, the State should have a concrete mechanism for health workers serving in remote areas. For example, the initial salary should be doubled and financial support for accommodation should be provided. Doctor Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, deputy director of Thanh Hoa province health department says that it is especially important to select and train cadres for the mountainous areas in the north and central regions as well as in the Mekong River Delta and Central Highland regions.

Improving the quality and quantity

To reduce the difference in qualifications of health workers among regions in the country, the Ministry of Health launched a campaign to implement decision No 1816 on sending health workers to remote areas. Accordingly, the country has 60 hospitals in the central level which are responsible for sending experienced cadres to support hospitals at local levels. Deputy Minister of Health Tran Thi Kim Tien said the MoH has built a project to strengthen its capacity to train human resources for the health sector. In the coming time, it is necessary to increase the quantity and quality of trained cadres, especially those in difficult areas.

MoH has also mapped out a framework for ten programmes under which teaching methods and curricula will be renovated. The number of students recruited in pharmaceutical universities in 2008 will increase by 1.5 times compared to 2007’s figure.

The shortage of health workers will continue in the next five or seven years. A representative from the Thai Nguyen health department speculates that there remain contradictions between the growing number of health workers and the quality of health services. This year, Vinh Phuc province has applied drastic measures by asking students graduating from medical schools to practice in localities before receiving their certificates.