Recent scientific researches have pointed out that around 40 percent needy medical patients have not received any treatment due to several reasons, said an official in the health sector at a Vietnam International Health Economics (HEA) Conference.
Patients wait for their turn to pay medical fee at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Around 40 percent of needy medical patietns have not received any treament due to financial reason, said Dr. Ly Ngoc Kinh (Photo: Anh Quan)
According to Ly Ngoc Kinh, former director of the Department of Health Examination and Treatment Management, the main reason is that many face financial difficulties. He said, “Approximately 42 percent of poor people received treatment in district clinics, while only 16.9 percent of wealthy patients did”.
Duong Huy Lieu, HEA’s chairperson, said, “Around 52.5 percent of health-care costs are paid out-of-pocket by households in 2008, while 44 percent of the population in Vietnam have joined up with medical insurance companies.
Mr. Lieu said, “Health insurance only paid 17.6 percent of the medical costs of any patient and that the patients he interviewed, 33 percent said their illness has dramatically reduced their incomes.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong, a World Health Organization expert in Vietnam, said “Out-of-pocket health payments exacerbate poverty and approximately 3.7 percent households fall into poverty, due to medical costs in 2008”.
She also went on to say, “Poverty line families and the old are the most vulnerable with extra medical costs”.
The Vietnam International Health Economics (HEA) Conference, the first of its kind, which was jointly organized by the Vietnam Health Economics Association (VHEA) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, was held in Hanoi on December 7-8.
Also, in attendance to this meeting were eminent experts from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Children’s Fund, WHO and a number of non-governmental organizations.
Source: SGGP
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