Recent years have seen a renewed effort and substantial achievements inthe healthcare sector, providing improved quality of life to theVietnamese people.

Thanks to the sector’s efforts, Vietnam hassuccessfully achieved Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to decreasethe maternal and child mortality rate. With efficient measures such asstandardised post-natal care in line with the latest guidance from theWorld Health Organisation (WHO), many of the maternal and child healthindicators have shown strong progress.

The rate of pregnantwomen receiving prenatal care increased to 96.4 percent, the rate ofpregnant women receiving the recommended two tetanus vaccines rose to95.7 percent, and the rate of mothers and children receiving postnatalcare grew to 89.9 percent.

The sector has worked to expand thecapacity of medical staff in obstetrical emergencies, including carryingout caesarean sections in mountainous hospitals. Notably, a midwiferytraining programme was developed and released at an ASEAN HealthMinisters Meeting in 2014 and has since been implemented across thebloc.

The rate of underweight children due to malnutritiondecreased to 15 percent in 2014 from 17.5 percent in 2010 and that ofchildren suffering from stunted growth slid by 3.8 percent over the pastfour years, down to 25.5 percent in 2014.

The sector continuesto take specific measures to ensure rapid and continuous decline in therate of child malnutrition, the mortality ratio of children under 1 and 5years old, and the maternal mortality rate in mountainous regions.

The healthcare sector also designs and disseminates population communication and provides family planning health services.-VNA