In April 1992 when Soc Trang province was re-established, the health sector faced numerous difficulties like shortages of health workers, especially doctors and pharmacists, and outdated medical equipment. Supported and guided by the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee, over the past 30 years, the health sector has gradually invested to improve all aspects and better meet healthcare needs and protect human health.
AAfter 30 years of development, its organizational model has basically been completed. The health network is developed evenly from the province to the grassroots. The sector now has more than 4,490 employees, including more than 1,000 doctors, bringing the ratio of doctors to 10,000 residents to 8.38, up to four times higher than previously. Up to 92% of communes have doctors and all 109 communes, wards and townships meet national health criteria. The hospital system of Soc Trang province has been constructed and upgraded with modern facilities and equipment to serve more than 1.5 million patients annually, including more than 540,000 days of inpatient treatment (average 6.1 days per patient). Up to now, the province has 3,800 hospital beds, an average of 28.53 beds to 10,000 residents.
Notably, costing over VND1,600 billion, the 1,000-bed Soc Trang General Hospital was officially put into operation in 2016, marking a new development milestone for the health sector. After four years of operation, the hospital was recognized as the first-grade hospital in the province. In 2019, the new Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital was also completed, while hospitals and clinics in Long Phu, My Tu, Vinh Chau, Ke Sach and Thanh Tri districts were upgraded to greatly foster public health care and protection. "Technical transfer" and "satellite hospital" projects help the health sector to launch high-tech and specialized expertise on par with other provinces in the region; apply many new techniques such as cardiovascular intervention, cerebral vascular intervention, ECMO technique, permanent pacemaker technique, continuous dialysis, hemodialysis, laparoscopic surgery, modern imaging, early diagnosis, craniocerebral treatment and phacoscopic (eye) surgery.
Talent attraction policies are effectively applied to draw more health workers of higher qualifications and expertise by entering into short-term health worker training cooperation programs. Soc Trang Medical School opened two more training majors to meet basic demand for human resources for the grassroots level. Up to now, the school has been upgraded to provide college-tier training.
In preventive medicine, in 2020, the Soc Trang Center for Disease Control was established to create a premise and strong resources to prevent and control diseases and bolster preventive medicine. The sector achieved many good indicators such as full 12-dose vaccinations for 99% of children aged under 1 and reducing malnutrition of children aged under 5 to 10%. Given the complicated COVID-19 epidemic, with resolution of the authorities and the Party at all levels, epidemic prevention and control measures worked effectively to rein the epidemic in the province.
In particular, the health sector of Soc Trang province has also gradually modernized its equipment; strengthened information technology application to many fields from preventive medicine to medical examination and treatment and health administration.
Mr. Tran Van Khai, Deputy Director of Soc Trang Health Department, said that in the coming time, the Soc Trang health sector will work with other localities in the country to further develop medical professions towards equality, efficiency and modernity, raise medical service quality, meet increasing and diverse demand of people for health care, reduce morbidity and mortality, increase life expectancy and improve the quality of human resources to catch up with industrialization and modernization requirements.
By Vietnam Business Forum
Vietnamese
October 2024
Hanoi