Directive No. 01/2004/CT-BYT on Enhancing Medical Ethics and Quality of Health Services During the Tet Holiday of Year Giáp Thân 2004

DIRECTIVE OF THE MINISTER OF HEALTH
ON IMPROVING MEDICAL ETHICS AND QUALITY OF HEALTH SERVICES DURING THE 2004 LUNAR NEW YEAR FESTIVAL

d.1. Amount of taxable income in Vietnam:The Year of the Goat is about to pass, and our country is preparing to welcome the Year of the Rat with continued momentum to achieve the goals set forth at the Ninth National Party Congress. To ensure a safe, frugal, and effective health care service for the people during the Tet holiday, the Minister of Health directs the Heads of Departments, Bureaus, Inspectors, Office, Heads of units under the Ministry, Directors of Provincial Health Services, and Health Departments of Ministries and Sectors within their respective authority and responsibility to strictly implement the following issues: 

1. Strengthen proactive disease prevention and control efforts, particularly concerning the re-emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in some countries and regions such as Taiwan, China... Continue to intensify border quarantine work to detect early, isolate suspected cases, and report immediately to the Ministry of Health. Increase inspections and handle violations related to food safety. Pay attention to environmental hygiene checks and control old disease clusters. Focus on inspecting and coordinating with local sectors to urge environmental sanitation at bus stations, train stations, and ports where large crowds gather and easily spread diseases. The disease surveillance system must be staffed continuously before, during, and after the Tet holidays. If there is an outbreak, it must be reported immediately to higher-level health authorities and the Ministry, and immediate measures must be taken to contain and extinguish the outbreak without allowing it to spread.

2. Organize well the provision of medical examinations and treatments during the Tet holiday. Increase additional shifts to promptly address emergency cases and childbirth during the Tet days. Medical facilities may not refuse or delay any emergency case; if out-of-network or out-of-specialty, they must provide initial treatment until the patient's condition stabilizes before transferring them to another facility after thoroughly explaining the situation to the patient and their family. Enhance the sense of responsibility and service consciousness, paying special attention to courteous and harmonious communication, and strictly adhere to professional technical regulations. Provide comprehensive care and services for patients remaining hospitalized or admitted for emergencies during the Tet days, both materially and spiritually, especially those who are policy beneficiaries and the poor. The Ministry assigns the Treatment Department to plan and organize inspections of hospitals during the Tet holiday together with the leadership of the Ministry.

3. Hospitals and central and provincial pharmaceutical companies must prepare sufficient medicines for reasonable prices and guaranteed quality. Be ready to supply medicines in case of mass emergencies or outbreaks, particularly in remote areas and regions affected by natural disasters in the past year. Provinces, cities, district and town health centers need to announce on local radio, television, and press the names and addresses of pharmacies that operate around the clock during the Tet holiday so that the public can be informed.

Strictly prohibit the sale of counterfeit, substandard, expired medicines, and price hikes for medicines at state and private pharmacies during the Tet holiday. 4. Coordinate with local security forces to ensure absolute safety for units during the Tet holiday. Pay particular attention to fire prevention and explosion control, carefully check electrical systems, fuel storage tanks, seal off, and cut power switches in warehouses and offices before leaving for the holiday. Units in the sector must organize four levels of duty:

leadership duty, professional duty, logistical duty, and security-guard duty . Duty schedules for the Tet holiday must be arranged separately, and lists of duty personnel must be publicly posted daily for unit leaders to inspect and urge when necessary. The main tasks are to handle unexpected events and protect the agency,do not organize receptions for guests wishing to visit and wish the agency a happy Tet during the holiday. 5. Units must quickly return to normal operations immediately after the Tet holiday and properly report health activities on the sixth day of the Tet holiday

(Tuesday, January 27, 2004) , hospitals and preventive health centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City(both central and local) must quickly compile data on medical examinations and emergency treatments, disease outbreaks, and food safety during the Tet holiday. By 10 AM, send representatives to directly report to the Ministry ( Treatment Department, Preventive Medicine and HIV/AIDS Control Bureau, and Food Safety and Quality Control Bureau for Hanoi; Administrative Management Division II for Ho Chi Minh City). For Provincial Health Services under the central government, they must compile and report data quickly to the Ministry on the sixth day of the Tet holiday (January 27, 2004) via fax number 04.8464051. Units under the Ministry and Provincial Health Services must report any disease outbreaks and urgent matters related to public health to the Ministry via phone number 04.8443039 or fax number 04.8464051. Units should have plans to inform their specialized units under their management well before the Tet holiday to ensure the collection of complete information and data to report to the leadership of the Ministry byTuesday, January 27, 2004 morning for the Ministry to compile the situation and report to the Government on the same day. Heads of Departments, Bureaus, Inspectorates, Office, Heads of units under the Ministry, Directors of Provincial Health Services under the central government, and Health Departments of Ministries and Sectors are responsible for organizing and guiding the implementation of this Directive./.

The heads of the Departments, Bureaus, Boards, Inspection, Office, Heads of units directly under the Ministry, Directors of Health Services of provinces and centrally governed cities, and health departments of other Ministries and sectors shall be responsible for organizing and guiding the implementation of this Directive./.