(VOVworld) –The health sector is well-prepared to deal with any epidemic outbreak, said Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien on the TV show “People ask, ministers answer” last Sunday.

The health sector is well-prepared to deal with any epidemic outbreak (Photo: giaoducthoidai.vn)

Concerning the spread of measles nationwide, Minister Tien said the health ministry has taken drastic measures in response, asking all cities and provinces to cooperate with health departments to vaccinate children. She said the health sector is working to improve public awareness of avian flu and simple preventive measures such as washing hands with soap and boosting immune systems to prevent infection. The sector has also organized staff training activities and stockpiled medicine and equipment in case an epidemic breaks out. Regarding the issue of hospital overload, Minister Tien said: "The government has approved a project to reduce hospital overload through a number of measures that will require the whole political system’s involvement. First, we need to increase the number of hospital beds. Second, we have devised a number of projects such as project 1816 and another satellite project in which central hospitals will transfer modern medical technologies to provincial hospitals. It’s expected that in the next 3 years these hospitals will be capable of using advanced medical technologies to treat their patients instead of sending them to central hospitals."