The BMZ Has Committed to Vietnam Over 3 Million Euro

On 21 and 22 September a national level Kick-off and Planning meeting will take place in Hanoi. Vietnam Commission for Population, Family and Children (VCPFC) will host this important event. The objective is to officially mark the start of the implementation phase of the project as well disseminate to all relevant partners working in the health sector, the Goal & Objectives of this new GTZ supported health project. The members of the Project Steering Committee and the members of the Project Management Units in the two (Son La & Cao Bang) provinces will attend.

 

Over the past 12 years the German Development Assistance (GTZ) has supported and cooperated with VCPFC in the Health Sector. GTZ, on behalf of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in partnerships with others, has contributed to improved health services for the people of many provinces. The outcomes of capacity building of health workers and their respective supervisors and managers as well as the development of training methodologies and curricula still last to date because these members of the system continue to train and supervise more and more health workers as an integral part of their daily work. This way, our development assistance can make a sustainable contribution to the improvement of the quality of life in Vietnam, specially when we join forces, resources and capabilities with our partners in the sector.

 

Building on this good cooperation model, the Peoples Committee of Son La and Cao Bang Provinces and the VCPFC have requested the BMZ for technical assistance to improve their health services in terms of quality and accessibility with a special emphasis on Reproductive Health as well as Health Financing Mechanisms. These provinces are poor mountainous provinces where many different minority people live. Their health standards do not yet match the great progress Vietnam has made in the health sector as is confirmed through indicators like child, infant and maternal mortality rates. Also the utilization of basic reproductive health and family planning services is not yet adequat. VCPFC and GTZ will support their counterparts, the Provincial CPFCs, the Departments of Health (DOH) and the Health Insurance Organization (VSS) in the provinces to carry out together a multi-facetted program with activities at communal, district and provincial level.

 

The financing of the health sector in Vietnam is at cross roads and GTZ hopes to contribute to the development of sound policies and strategies which ensure the stated objectives. Health Promotion, Information-Education-Communication (IEC) as well as Behavior Change Communication (BCC) strategies are used to influence Health Seeking Behavior of specially the rural poor population while various training and supportive supervision activities of health service providers are to improve the supply side. The focus will be on the areas of Reproductive Health and Family Planning, Mother-Child Health Services and improved treatment of AIDS-Patients in public and non-governmental institutions.

 

The BMZ has committed to the government of Vietnam over 3 million Euro (60 billion Dong) for the implementation of this project.

 

The German Government through GTZ is planning to extend geographically to more provinces while broadening the scope of the technical assistance to the strengthening of comprehensive provincial health systems. The high commitment from the Vietnamese partner ministries and the other German development organizations who will put their combined strength behind this new project, is a sound base for the success of this new project.