Novartis Vietnam kicks off PPP project to strengthen primary healthcare

The workshop to kick off the project to strengthen primary healthcare in the central province of Ha Tinh

This workshop was remarked to be yet another milestone following the MoU-signing ceremony between the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ha Tinh Department of Health (DoH), and Novartis Vietnam in 2019 to strengthen primary healthcare in Vietnam and take the country closer to achieving Universial Health Coverage and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The project to strengthen primary healthcare is a public-private partnership (PPP) project between Novartis Vietnam and Ha Tinh DoH that will be implemented during the 18 months between August 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021. The project aims to strengthen local health capability through prevention and management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) cascade at four blue-print commune health stations, aligning with the MoH’s strategy and programme, as well as to contribute to primary healthcare for people at the project sites. Specifically, there are four objectives:

• Increasing community awareness of primary healthcare and adoption of healthy behaviour/living habits for better health and good management of NCDs, with a focus on cardiovascular diseases from high blood pressure to more complex ailments like heart failure;

• Reinforcing two-way referral and linkages between CHS and district/district general hospitals for more effective management of NCDs at local health facilities;

• Strengthening local health capability, increasing availability and accessibility of healthcare services at CHSs, especially for better prevention and management of NCDs (high blood pressure, diabetes and high blood pressure uncontrolled leaving cardiovascular diseases);

• Policy impacts through project evidence-based outcomes for sustainable health system strengthening and expansion/scale-up of the modality in Ha Tinh.

Ha Tinh is a pioneer among the eight provinces in the MoH’s project to partner with Novartis Vietnam in strengthening primary healthcare system at the local setting. An estimated of 10,000 targeted population in the project sites (adults at or above 40 years old or under 40 with a family history of or symptoms of high blood pressure and high blood pressure-leaving cardiovascular diseases) will benefit from the project.

“Novartis is honoured to partner with Ha Tinh and several other provinces, as well as the MoH through a novel PPP model. Standing together to strengthen grassroots healthcare is essential. Grassroots care remains essential in containing COVID-19. Grassroots care, or primary care, is equally essential in treating the increasing burden of chronic diseases, focusing on cardiovascular diseases from high blood pressure to more complex ailments like heart failure. The specific focus agreed in the detailed work plan is quickly coming to life with the workshop taking place today. We look forward to seeing a positive impact on the health status of the 10,000 or so eligible adults across the four blue-print commune health stations and support Ha Tinh to scale up successful interventions across the remaining 178 communes in the coming years,” said Roeland Roelofs, country president, Novartis Vietnam.

The kick-off workshop reaffirms Novartis’s long-term commitment in partnering and striving to help improve the healthcare status at the community level in Vietnam, contributing to reducing the overcrowding situation at higher levels, as well as enhancing Vietnamese people’s awareness of primary healthcare.

Novartis is a leading global pharmaceutical company. From using innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative and groundbreaking treatments in areas of great medical need, Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's life. Novartis products reach nearly 800 million people globally. About 109,000 people of more than 145 nationalities work at Novartis around the world.

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