(Illustrative photo)

The central highlands province of Kon Tum has set up a widespread grassroots health care network with 10 district health stations and 99 communal clinics meeting the UN criteria for community health care. The number of ethnic minority patients receiving treatment at clinics has increased and deaths due to unscientific treatment has fallen.

Kon Tum is among the few localities that have achieved the UN MDG of community health care for ethnic minority.

Associate Professor Phan Le Thu Hang, Director of the Management Board of Projects on Community Healthcare Development, said: "The UN and the international community have praised Vietnam as a role model in implementing MDG on health care. With an effective disease prevention strategy and efforts by the whole political system, the community, and the health care sector, our preventive medicine system has been expanded and has performed effectively."

In its National Action Program to Implement Agenda 2030, Vietnam developed a roadmap to realize 17 SDGs and 115 specific targets based on its situation. Vietnam ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change, implemented the Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Framework 2015-2030, making its Nationally Determined Contribution to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 8% by 2030.

Mr. Kamal Malhotra, former UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, said:  “I think Vietnam can be proud of having been on the forefront of UN reform on the ground through what we call “Delivering as son of the One-UN Initiative. It started in 2006 globally. There were 8 pilot countries and Vietnam was one of them. It has rarely been at the forefront of those 8 for that period and I hope that it will continue to be solved. I’m certainly keeping up of taking further the momentum on that. And I think that is the most important contribution that Vietnam and its leadership has made to the UN.”

Pioneering MDG and SDG efforts, Vietnam has become an important part of the UN. UN Secretary-General Atonio Guterres said: “Vietnam has been a strong part of the UN since joining the organization in 1977. Your women and men in uniform are playing their parts in UN peacekeeping missions and your living role in achieving the MDGs is the solid foundation for the efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development."

"The vision and ambition of the sustainable development goals will be more important than ever as we recover from the COVID pandemic. As an elected member of the UN Security Council, Vietnam has been making important contribution to support sustainable peace, demonstrating your strong presence on the global stage.” added the UN Chief.

Achievements in the last 45 years show that Vietnam has become a strong, reliable partner of the UN in contributing to global peace and sustainable development.