Directive No. 03/2007/CT-BYT on Strengthening Rehabilitation Work

DIRECTIVE OF THE MINISTER OF HEALTH

On Strengthening Rehabilitation Work

Along with disease prevention and treatment activities, rehabilitation work is one of the three important tasks of the health sector.

In recent years, alongside significant achievements in the health sector, rehabilitation work (rehabilitation) has achieved initial encouraging results. A network of rehabilitation units has been formed and developed nationwide with 36 hospitals and 27 nursing-rehabilitation facilities, 100% of central general hospitals, and 92% of provincial general hospitals have physical therapy-rehabilitation departments. More and more rehabilitation techniques are being applied to serve patients and people with disabilities. Community-based rehabilitation programs have been implemented in many provinces, contributing to reducing disability rates, enhancing social integration and reintegration capabilities, and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.

Besides these achievements, rehabilitation work still faces some shortcomings, including a thin workforce of specialized rehabilitation staff, a severe shortage of highly skilled professionals, a lack of rehabilitation technicians, limited investment in the field of rehabilitation, inadequate specialized equipment that fails to meet development requirements, and insufficient sustainability of community-based rehabilitation programs.

The reasons for these limitations are mainly due to insufficient understanding among most leaders at all levels about the role and significance of rehabilitation in health protection, care, and improvement; inadequate regular investment in rehabilitation work; insufficient attention given to training rehabilitation staff; and an incomplete network of rehabilitation organizations that fail to meet the needs of protecting, caring for, and enhancing public health.

To address these limitations, and to implement Directive No. 01/2006/CT-TTg dated January 9, 2006, of the Prime Minister on intensifying assistance policies for people with disabilities in the current situation, the Minister of Health directs the heads of bureaus, departments, the Director of the Office, the Inspector General of the Ministry of Health, the Directors of Provincial Health Departments, and the Heads of Health Services of relevant sectors to perform the following tasks:

1. Enhance health communication and education to raise public awareness of the role and importance of rehabilitation in health protection, care, and improvement, particularly in preventing disabilities, early detection, and early intervention in rehabilitation.

Advise local government leaders and competent authorities on the role and significance of rehabilitation, emphasizing appropriate investment in rehabilitation.

2. Develop a unified national rehabilitation network along the following lines:

- At the commune level: Commune Health Stations should assign medical personnel responsible for rehabilitation work, who will be trained in basic knowledge of rehabilitation.

- At the district level: Assign dedicated personnel for rehabilitation work, encourage the establishment of physical therapy-rehabilitation departments in district general hospitals.

- At the provincial level: By the end of 2008, all provincial general hospitals must establish physical therapy-rehabilitation departments, and encourage specialized hospitals to set up such departments. Encourage provinces to establish nursing-rehabilitation hospitals.

- At the central level: The Central Nursing-Rehabilitation Hospital should fully leverage its role in guiding lower-level facilities, promoting the development of rehabilitation work. Bach Mai Hospital (Rehabilitation Center) is responsible for advising the Ministry of Health on professional guidance, developing the rehabilitation specialty in Vietnam, and drafting a proposal to establish a National Rehabilitation Institute.

3. Increase investment in medical equipment and infrastructure, gradually equipping hospitals with necessary specialized rehabilitation equipment and supplies; construct or upgrade rehabilitation facilities nationwide, focusing on developing rehabilitation techniques, avoiding overemphasis on rest and reducing rehabilitation activities.

4. Pay attention to and promote rehabilitation training, universities and colleges across the country need to focus on training in the rehabilitation specialty, increasing quotas for training rehabilitation specialists and technicians.

Consolidate and develop rehabilitation departments in medical universities, form a network of training rehabilitation technicians in some colleges and secondary vocational schools; supplement and modify training curricula and continuous training programs in rehabilitation to meet practical requirements.

Nursing-rehabilitation hospitals and physical therapy-rehabilitation departments of provincial general hospitals should focus on continuous training and effectively guide lower-level facilities, conducting professional training and refresher courses.

Strengthen scientific research to develop the rehabilitation specialty.

5. Maintain and enhance community-based rehabilitation work. Promptly revise and supplement the content of community-based rehabilitation training programs to apply them uniformly throughout the country.

Coordinate with related departments at the local level to develop rehabilitation projects based on the community for the period 2007-2010, submit them for approval by the provincial People's Committee, ensuring the sustainability of community-based rehabilitation work in the locality.

6. Emphasize rehabilitation work at healthcare facilities, nursing-rehabilitation hospitals must closely cooperate with general and specialized hospitals, providing rehabilitation services to patients from the post-resuscitation stage and during hospitalization; applying advanced rehabilitation techniques, combining rehabilitation with traditional medicine to meet the increasingly high demands of patients and people with disabilities.

7. Promote international cooperation in rehabilitation, seeking and utilizing the cooperation and support of international organizations, countries, and foreign individuals for the field of rehabilitation and community-based rehabilitation.

8. Effectively monitor and supervise rehabilitation work, the Treatment Department shall take the lead, coordinating with the Ministry of Health Inspectorate and relevant departments to supervise and inspect the implementation of this Directive, reporting to the Minister of Health.

Upon receipt of this Directive, department heads, bureau chiefs, the Director of the Office, the Inspector General of the Ministry of Health, provincial health directors, heads of health services of relevant sectors, and related units shall be responsible for implementing it and reporting the results by October 30 each year to the Ministry of Health./.