Latest regulations on duties and powers of the District Medical Center in Vietnam

Latest regulations on duties and powers of the District Medical Center in Vietnam​ (Image from the internet)

On November 15, 2024, the Minister of Health of Vietnam issued Circular 32/2024/TT-BYT providing guidance on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of district medical centers, including those in districts, district-level towns, cities within provinces, and central-affiliated cities.

Latest regulations on duties and powers of the District Medical Center in Vietnam​

- Perform activities providing professional services and techniques in preventive healthcare:

+ Implement activities for the prevention and control of infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS: surveillance, early detection screening, vaccination, preventive treatment, and implementing measures to prevent, control, and mitigate the consequences of diseases; prevent the risk factors causing the emergence and spread of diseases;

+ Implement activities for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases: control and prevent risk factors, surveillance, screening, detection, and management of at-risk individuals, and those with non-communicable diseases in the community and implement measures to prevent and control non-communicable diseases;

+ Conduct community nutrition activities; school health; sanitation and environmental health, burial and cremation sanitation for deaths caused by dangerous diseases; occupational health; prevent occupational diseases and injuries; monitor the quality of water used for domestic purposes; protect the environment in healthcare facilities and prevent harmful health risk factors as prescribed by law;

+ Organize health examinations, health classification, regular health check-ups for workers, health examinations for military service according to legal regulations.

- Perform activities providing professional services and techniques in medical examination, treatment, and rehabilitation:

+ Provide first aid and emergency treatment;

+ Perform medical examinations, treatment, and rehabilitation according to the medical operation license and the approved scope of professional activities by competent authorities;

+ Perform techniques, methods, surgeries, and transfer patients to medical facilities as prescribed by law;

+ Organize and manage opiate substitution therapy, treatment of other drug addictions, and treatment of HIV/AIDS following legal regulations;

+ Collaborate in conducting medical assessments per the law; participate in forensic examinations when requisitioned.

- Perform activities providing professional services and techniques in reproductive health care:

+ Implement activities for maternal, neonatal, and children health care; adolescent and youth reproductive health care; reproductive health care for men and the elderly;

+ Perform specialized techniques in obstetrics and family planning methods according to regulations;

+ Prevent infections, reproductive cancers, and diseases transmitted from parents to children.

- Perform activities providing professional services and techniques in food safety:

+ Implement food poisoning prevention activities; investigate, monitor, handle food poisoning incidents, and foodborne diseases; monitor food contamination risks in the area;

+ Guide and supervise food production, business establishments, food service businesses, street food businesses on ensuring food safety as prescribed by law;

+ Participate in appraising establishments qualified for food production and business in the area as assigned; participate in food safety inspections, and perform other food safety tasks as prescribed by law and assigned.

- Perform activities providing professional services and techniques in population:

+ Implement activities of counseling, health check-up before marriage; counseling, screening, prenatal screening, newborn screening; family planning services; infertility prevention methods in the community; and providing population, family planning services to adolescents, youths; health and nutrition care for the elderly;

+ Organize and coordinate intersectoral implementation of population tasks to manage population changes, adjust birth rates, control population scale, control gender imbalance at birth; reduce early marriage, consanguineous marriage; improve population quality, and health care for the elderly to adapt to population aging on the area as prescribed by law.

- Conduct tests, imaging diagnostics, and functional exploration serving professional, technical activities according to the Center's functions, tasks, and population's needs; implement measures ensuring biological safety in laboratories and radiation safety as prescribed by law.

- Perform medical service activities in disaster consequence mitigation, disaster response, and health emergency responses.

- Propagate, provide information about the Communist Party's policies, state laws, and organize activities for counseling, education, communication, mobilizing people to participate in health protection activities, food safety, population tasks, and development in the area.

- Manage, guide, supervise support activities in professional, technical work:

+ Organize and establish residents' health management records in the area;

+ Directly manage, direct professional, technical activities for commune-level health stations and other organizations under the district medical center (if any);

+ Guide, inspect, supervise support in providing basic medical service packages by commune, ward, commune-level town health stations;

+ Guide, inspect, supervise support in professional, technical matters for healthcare facilities belonging to agencies, schools, farms, enterprises, industrial zones, hi-tech parks, export processing zones in the area, and village health workers, midwives, population collaborators.

- Training, fostering healthcare personnel:

+ Implement training, professional knowledge, skills fostering for public employees, laborers under management authority as prescribed by law;

+ Participate in training, updating professional knowledge, skills fostering for village health workers, midwives, population collaborators, and other subjects as prescribed by competent authorities;

+ Act as a training facility for practical training per legal regulations.

- Execute purchasing, receiving, supplying, preserving, dispensing, and using medicines, contraceptives, vaccines, medical bio-products, chemicals, medical equipment, and supplies serving professional activities as prescribed by competent authorities and by the law.

- Implement projects, programs in healthcare, population fields as assigned by competent authorities; execute military-civil fusion based on characteristics, actual situation, and legal regulations.

- Execute social insurance healthcare examination and treatment contract organization at the district medical center, commune health stations, and other organizations under the district medical center (if any) as prescribed by law.

- Research and participate in scientific research, technology development; apply scientific and technical progress in professional activities.

- Implement tasks in social work, quality management, information technology, digital transformation, and international cooperation according to actual conditions and legal regulations.

- Implement statistical, reporting policies; build, aggregate, provide health, population database information per legal regulations.

- Manage manpower, finances, and assets according to delegation and legal regulations.

- Fulfill other tasks and powers assigned by competent authorities.

(Article 4 of Circular 32/2024/TT-BYT)

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