Vietnam is determined to popularize public health by 2020, especially for poor and ethnic minority people and children under six years old.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien affirmed this on July 7 at a meeting between ASEAN and three partners, Japan, the Republic of Korea and China, in Thailand.

She said that Vietnam plans to reform its grassroots level healthcare system and clinics and accelerate programmes to prevent the spread of epidemics and diseases such as heart attacks, cancer and hypertension.

ASEAN and the three partners agreed to promote better public health for more than two billion people in the region.

They said that public health campaigns play an important role in poverty reduction and create the best conditions for all the people to access essential medical services.

They agreed to set up an ASEAN + 3 public health network and build an effective healthcare management system for the programme.

ASEAN and their partners will also strengthen cooperation in preventing and controlling infectious diseases, create mechanisms to cope with emergencies, ensure food safety, develop human resources for the medical sector and promote traditional medicine and pharmacy.

(VOV)