Hospitals look abroad for equipment

VietNamNet Bridge – The quality of domestic health equipment had yet to meet national and international standards, said health experts at a meeting on Tuesday.

Imported modern health equipment is always the first choice of domestic hospitals.

Most modern health equipment in hospitals was imported because domestic machines lacked advanced technology, said deputy minister of health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien.

Bach Mai Hospital used domestically produced items like beds, stretchers, patient trolleys and desks, said Bui Xuan Vinh, head of Health Facilities Department.

But the hospital imported high-tech health equipment such as diagnosis, ultrasound and x-ray machines from Japan or the US to ensure their quality and accurate results, said Vinh.

The technology of domestic health equipment was not as advanced as required, said Dinh Manh Huy, deputy director of Viet Duc Hospital.

Until now, there have been 48 agencies manufacturing more than 620 basic pieces of hospital equipment.

Moreover, hospitals are not paying enough attention to the staff who are responsible for managing health equipment, according to Tien.

Only 6 per cent of the staff were engineers, 35 per cent technical workers and the other 59 per cent doctors and nurses who had to take on this responsibility in addition to their other work, she said.

Currently, there is only one college training people to care for health facilities.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has suggested measures to deal with this difficult situation: establish a steering committee on health facilities, draw a specific plan for manufacturing and selling domestic health equipment, list health equipment which can be mass-produced and improve the law on health facilities.

It was also necessary to improve the salary of people responsible for maintaining health equipment, said Nhan.

The health ministry has co-operated with the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of National Defence to boost the study and manufacture of health equipment, according to Nguyen Minh Tuan, deputy head of the Health Equipment Department under the Ministry of Health.

There would also be specific programmes to train technicians or engineers in health facilities management, said Tuan.

This would contribute to the strategic plan that by 2010, up to 60 per cent of health equipment in hospitals and health centres will be domestically produced.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News