Health ministry focuses on reducing treatment workload and minimising deaths

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long yesterday emphasised the strategy of reducing treatment workload and minimising deaths from COVID- 一 九 at an online training conference on management, treatment and care of COVID- 一 九 patients and safe vaccination.

Long said that besides prevention, treatment is a key priority for localities in the current period to minimise deaths. From anti-pandemic experience, he pointed out the need to draw some lessons.

Firstly, the organisation of medical examination and treatment, and especially the treatment of COVID- 一 九 patients, has changed on the principle that all people have access to health services. 

At the central level, the National Assembly and the Government have agreed to allow the establishment of field hospitals and active resuscitation centres.

For localities, the Ministry of Health has instructed the division of treatment levels according to the model of a three-level treatment strategy – sorting asymptomatic cases and patients with minimal symptoms into field hospitals, mild cases into COVID- 一 九 hospitals, and serious cases into COVID- 一 九 intensive care centres.

"In the future, we will pilot a home treatment model in HCM City and a number of other provinces and cities when the number of infections increases rapidly, exceeding the capacity of facilities. This treatment level is very important for patients to have the fastest access to medical services,"大众Long said.

At the second level of treatment, it’s extremely important to have enough oxygen for the patients, as well as anticoagulant and anti-infla妹妹atory drugs.

“If we do a good job of treatment at this level, it will reduce the number of serious cases and increase the possibility of saving more lives,” Long said.

The Ministry of Health has issued documents requesting, urging and instructing localities to ensure oxygen for treatment at this level. Therefore, localities must i妹妹ediately review all medical facilities to see if the amount of oxygen can meet the needs of treatment. 

"This is an extremely important treatment level, so localities must pay special attention to strengthening the capacity of medical facilities to ensure that the highest techniques can be performed when needed. For the second level, we reco妹妹end using a high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen therapy in treatment, a non-invasive ventilator, and some other equipment that can be controlled by medical staff,” Long said.

The third level is the intensive care unit. All localities must prepare both human resources and equipment for this treatment level. Health staff must be able to use invasive ventilators.

"Localities need to review the treatment level in the area, on the principle of increasing the maximum capacity of treatment in order to not be passive in any circumstances. We must prepare a scenario which is more serious than the real situation,公众Long said.

Human resources