Cooperation in developing the healthcare and pharmaceutical system between Vietnam and France

In Hanoi, the Vietnam Social Security (VSS) and the French Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam recently held a signing ceremony for a strategic cooperation memorandum to contribute to the development of the healthcare and pharmaceutical systems of the two countries to better care for people's health, while strengthening the relationship between the French Embassy and the VSS.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Olivier Brochet - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Vietnam said that since 2018, the French Embassy and its health committees and associations have cooperated with the Vietnam Social Security in the fields of health and pharmaceuticals.

Next, in 2019, the French Pharmaceutical Trade Association (Leem) had a cooperation document with Vietnam Social Security in the pharmaceutical field.

Therefore, the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding is a continuation of past activities, demonstrating the increasingly close relationship between the two sides.

Providing information on some outstanding achievements of the Vietnam Social Insurance sector in 29 years of construction and development, at the Ceremony, Deputy General Director Nguyen Duc Hoa shared that in 1995 - the first year of establishment of the sector, Vietnam Social Insurance managed about 2.2 million workers, up to now, the number of people participating in social insurance has been about 18.26 million people (reaching 39.25% of the working-age workforce), unemployment insurance (UI) about 14.7 million people (reaching nearly 31.6% of the working-age workforce); health insurance more than 93.3 million people, reaching a coverage rate of about 93.35% of the population (exceeding 0.15% compared to Resolution 01/NQ-CP of the Government), approaching the goal of universal health insurance. Social insurance, unemployment insurance, and health insurance funds have become one of the largest public financial funds in the country. This is an extremely important premise in implementing the roadmap for universal health insurance and moving towards social insurance for all employees according to the set goals.

However, in organizing and implementing the health insurance policy, Vietnam Social Security also faces many difficulties such as ensuring the rights of health insurance participants to have full access to medicines, medical supplies, and technical services of quality, efficiency, safety, and in accordance with the payment capacity of the health insurance fund...

Deputy General Director Nguyen Duc Hoa emphasized that the Memorandum of Understanding is not only a commitment to public health but also an important milestone marking the sharing of responsibility and joint efforts in providing high-quality medical services to serve the people of both countries, contributing to the good relationship between Vietnam and France as the two countries have just celebrated the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations.

At the Ceremony, witnessed by delegates, on behalf of Vietnam Social Security, Deputy General Director Nguyen Duc Hoa and Mr. Thibaut Giroux - Chairman of the French Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam signed a Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation between the two agencies.

In the Memorandum of Understanding, the two sides committed to cooperate in many areas, including: exchanging information and sharing experiences on solutions to increase revenue for the health insurance fund, experience in implementing additional health insurance packages; improving capacity in assessing medical technology for application in building a list of drugs, medical supplies, and technical services covered by the health insurance fund; enhancing communication, raising awareness of the community and medical staff on the safe, rational, and effective use of drugs, ensuring the effective use of the health insurance fund and the rights of patients. Thereby, helping to optimize resources, improve the quality of medical services to ensure that people in both countries benefit from modern medical advances.

Within the framework of the signing ceremony, previously, Vietnam Social Security, the French Embassy and the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam organized the Workshop “Towards better management of chronic diseases in Vietnam”. This is a practical activity, especially in the context that Vietnam is facing the trend of rapid population aging, the burden of disease and the cost of medical treatment for chronic diseases is increasing. With that meaning, at the Workshop, delegates shared information on the experience of chronic disease management of other countries; proposed the development of a general chronic disease management policy and the management and use of the health insurance fund for the Vietnam Social Security sector.