VietNamNet Bridge - Talking to VietNamNet about the distinction between the rich and the poor at public hospitals, specialists and officials believe that this model will have to change.

Distinguish between rich and poor in public hospitals

Mr. Nguyen Van Tien, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Committee for Social Affair said: "It’s disgusting, needs to be changed."

Public hospitals offering voluntary medical services is considered a solution to implement the health socialization policy of the Party, the State and the National Assembly. The policy has been confirmed to be true; the problem is promoting healthcare socialization by which method.

If public hospitals do not separate the voluntary treatment zone from the public zone, it will cause a very bad reputation. Socially, it creates a disturbing image, very bad, because of the distinction between the rich and the poor inside public hospitals. In the same hospital, one side is "capitalism", while the other side is the "socialism."

The National Assembly Committee for Social Affair has asked the Ministry of Health to gradually separate the two zones, to avoid "sensitive" issues.

But the Ministry of Health said that is a long-term direction, and at the present time, the health sector lacks a lot of resources (both finance and human), so they must continue to maintain the current status.

Mr. Duong Huy Lieu, Chairman of the Vietnam Health Economic Science Association: Hospitals need to change the approach to capital sources.

The good of health socialization is to develop better techniques on the basis of raising capital from various sources and people have services to use. Looking at this, health socialization brings about enormous benefit.

But health socialization is not implemented scientifically and systematically so it does not make equality. People who have money benefit more than those who have less money. But we have to accept it, because without socialization, all would have nothing to benefit from.

Currently, the prices of voluntary healthcare are decided by hospitals. But the Ministry of Health should also see where the prices reflect the costs, if they are inappropriate, they must be reconsidered.

Health socialization should be transformed into public investment to a certain extent, or hospitals should be facilitated to borrow bank loans to develop voluntary services in order to limit the consequences.

Dr. Vu Xuan Phu, Deputy Director of the Central Lung Hospital, Head of the Health Economics Faculty, University of Public Health: "No discrimination with patients."

We should not and cannot eliminate health services for those who can afford to pay (as this is the law of the market). But we need a clever way to not make the poor to feel discrimination.

Each hospital needs to educate their health workers so they do not have the attitude to distinguish between rich and poor patients and to equally treat all patients. In addition to continuing education, hospitals must have sanctions to force them to have this fair attitude.

Cam Quyen