Geneva (VNA) – Vietnam will increase thenumber of communal health care centres in charge of preventing, managing and treatingseveral non-contagious diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes in thenext 12 months.

This is one of the three concrete steps the country has committed towardsuniversal health coverage. Such objectives were presented at the 71st WorldHealth Assembly at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 22 byDeputy Health Minister Le Quoc Cuong.

The country also aims to expand health insurance coverage from 86.4 percent in2017 to 88.5 percent at the end of 2018, according to the official.

Besides, Vietnam will mobilise resources through sin-taxes on tobacco andalcohol and increase public funds, especially health insurance fund, to coverprimary care services, he said.

Cuong called for further financial and technical support from the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) and other development partners to implement the commitments.

He stressed that leaving no-one behind is a core principle of universal healthcoverage, adding that Vietnam has met 73 percent of public health needs, a relativelyhigh rate compared to other countries in the Western Pacific region.

However, he said, about 19 percent of Vietnamese families have to spend morethan 10 percent of their income on health services, an unreasonable rate asevaluated by the WHO.

Given this, the country is redesigning local health care service systems whichcan provide integrated care, while allocating financial resources reasonably tohandle this issue, he said.

Vietnam is one of the 34 members of the Executive Board of the WHO for2016-2019.

The 71st World Health Assembly discussed many global matters, including theWHO’s five-year strategic plan to help countries meet the health targets of theSustainable Development Goals (SDGs), along with vaccine and medicine shortageand access, and polio elimination, among others.

Addressing the event, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointedout challenges to human health globally.

He presented an ambitious agenda for change that aims to save 29 million livesby 2023. The WHO General Programme of Work, designed to address thesechallenges and accelerate progress towards the SDGs, centres on the “triplebillion” targets: 1 billion more people benefitting from universal healthcoverage, 1 billion more people better protected from health emergencies and 1billion more people enjoying better health and well-being.

"We are transforming how we work to achieve our vision of a world in whichhealth is a right for all. We are changing the way we do business," Tedrossaid.-VNA