UNDP, Vietnam Health Ministry Seek to Increase Cooperation
Vietnamese Deputy Health Minister Le Duc Luan and UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Ramla Khalidi discussed measures to promote cooperation at a meeting in Hanoi on January 15, local media reported.
During the talks, both sides talked about the implementation of remote healthcare programs at grassroots medical facilities using the "Doctor for Every Home" software and the potential procurement of antiretroviral drugs (ARV) through UNDP.
Ms. Ramla Khalidi rated that over the past three years, "Remote Healthcare Initiative" utilizing the "Doctor for Every Home" software has been successfully implemented in eight provinces, training nearly 3,000 healthcare professionals, accessing 1.3 million users, facilitating 70,000 remote medical appointments at commune health stations, and supporting healthcare professionals at these stations in conducting 10,000 video calls with doctors at higher-level healthcare units.
She announced that the initiative has secured $3.5 million in new funding from the Korea Foundation for International Healthcare (KOFIH) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). With this new funding, the initiative is set to expand to an additional nine provinces, bringing the total to 17 provinces supported in the implementation over the next four years.
She affirmed that UNDP is ready to assist Vietnam in efficiently procuring high-quality drugs at favorable prices, especially in challenging and urgent situations.
Thanking UNDP for its support the Vietnamese health ministry over the past years, Deputy Health Minister Luan hoped the two sides to have more effective cooperation in some sectors of mutual interests.
He hoped UNDP to expand its support to additional provinces and cities in implementing remote healthcare services if there are additional resources or projects available.
He also expressed the wish for UNDP to support the National Drug Bidding Center in enhancing its capabilities for centralized national procurement, international procurement, and procurement software to streamline and expedite the procurement process.