Thoroughly grasping and implementing the Party's viewpoints and policies on national defense, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has been synchronously and drastically performing several measures to improve the quality and efficiency of the defense work to contribute to the successful completion of the two strategic tasks of building and defending the Fatherland in the new situation.

The Ministry of Health is an agency of the Government, performing the function of state management of health, including the fields of preventive medicine; medical examination and treatment and rehabilitation; medical assessment, forensic medicine, mental forensics; traditional medicine and pharmacy; reproductive health; medical equipment and devices; cosmeceuticals; food safety; health insurance; population; and state management of public services in the areas of responsibility, of which, the national defense and security is an assigned task.

Assoc. Proff. Nguyen Truong Son (middle) granting certificates for the MOH's participants in defense and security education

In recent years, together with well performing the work of protecting, caring for, and improving the people's health, MOH has implemented various creative solutions suitable to the functions, tasks and organizational and staffing characteristics of the Sector to improve the quality and efficiency of the defense work and achieved many important results. Notably, the awareness and sense of responsibility of the Party committees, Party organizations, key officials, and health workers at all levels for defense tasks have been gradually improved. Military commands of the units under the Ministry have been regularly strengthened in terms of quantity, structure, organization, and quality assurance. They have also proactively and promptly advised the Party committees of the same level to lead the successful implementation of military and defense tasks. The self-defense forces throughout the Sector have been paid much attention to building strong in all aspects, meeting the requirements of maintaining political security and social order and safety of the units and assurance coordination in the area. The military-civilian medical cooperation has been increasingly tight, in-depth, and reaching quality and efficiency, making an important contribution in the strategy of care, protection, and improvement of the people's health and the armed forces and consolidation of the faith of the people, especially ethnic minorities in remote, border, and island areas with the Party and the State.

In contrast to the achieved results, a number of agencies and units in the Health Sector have not paid adequate attention to defense tasks. The work of advising and organizing the implementation of defense tasks of a number of units is not highly effective, while the gradual transition to financial autonomy mechanism of health service delivery agencies and complicated weather, natural disasters, and epidemics have also significantly affected the results of the Ministry's defense work. In the coming time, therefore, in order to further improve the quality of defense work and meet the requirements on building and defending the Fatherland, the Party Personnel Committee and MOH leaders should continue to focus on leading and directing agencies and units to synchronously and effectively implement major solutions as follows:

Firstly, to focus on directing the implementation of national defense and security education and raising of awareness and sense of responsibility of health officials, public servants, and workers on defense tasks in the new situation. The Party Personnel Committee and Ministry leaders should continue to strengthen leadership and direct agencies and units to thoroughly grasp the Party and State's resolutions and directives and instructions of the Ministry of Defense on defense work. Concurrently, the propaganda, education, and raising of awareness and sense of responsibility for health officials, Party members, civil servants and workers about the meaning, importance, and necessity of the implementation of defense tasks should be promoted. The educational content should be comprehensive but focus on thoroughly grasping the defense lines, guidelines, and policies of the Party and the State, especially the National Defense Law, the Law on Militia and Self-Defense Force, the Law on National Defense and Security Education, and Decree No.168/2018/NĐ-CP issued on December 28^th, 2018 by the Government on defense work in ministries, central agencies, and localities. It is necessary to continue to effectively implement Action Program 70-CTr/BCSĐ issued on June 1^st, 2012 by the Ministry of Health's Party Personnel Committee on implementing Resolution No.28-NQ/TW issued on September 22^nd, 2008 of the Politburo on continuing to build Central provinces and cities into solid defense areas in the new situation.

In order to improve the quality and efficiency of this work, agencies and units under the Ministry should concentrate on well performing the education, fostering, and dissemination of defense and security knowledge in accordance with regulations. The implementation of professional tasks and promotion of defense and military work should be integrated, along with reasonable plans to concentrate the human resources and time to perform military and defense tasks without affecting the professional tasks. It is also necessary to proactively review the objects and develop fostering plans in a scientific and specific manner to be close to the requirements of tasks. At the same time, agencies and units of the Ministry of Defense, especially the local military agencies, should be closely coordinated with to organize the implementation with correct and adequate contents, programs, and objects and high quality and efficiency. Much attention should be paid to directing national defense and security education for students in the attached schools. For health agencies and units, various forms and measures should be combined to popularize national defense and security knowledge for civil servants, officials, and employees through briefings, notices, official dispatches, internal broadcasts, web portals, etc. Especially, through gratitude activities to policy beneficiaries, people with meritorious services to the revolution and meetings to tell stories of traditional experiences of health workers and staff who have participated in the wars through periods of time, directly contributing to raising awareness and sense of responsibility for medical workers at all levels for defense tasks.

Secondly, to promote the core role of the Military Command in advising, deploying, and organizing the implementation of defense work. The Party Personnel Committee and Ministry leaders have determined that this force have an important position and role in advising and implementing the military and defense tasks of the Sector. The Military Command has been regularly strengthened to ensure the right, adequate structure, components, and quality. Full-time and part-time officials engaged in defense work should be trained and supplemented with military and defense knowledge and capacity and capacity of construction and promulgation of resolutions, directives, programs, plans, and instructions on the implementation of defense work in accordance with the Party's viewpoints and military and defense lines and to be suitable to the practical situation of the Sector. This contingent should be taken care of and fostered to ensure sufficient capacity for advising the Party committees and heads of units to formulate health development strategies, planning, and plans associated with the task of ensuring national defense and security and building health potentials in defense areas to be ready for health mobilization and meet the requirements of the defense and security tasks, both in peacetime and in times of war. In addition, agencies and units under the Ministry should attach great importance to raising the quality of military training and combat readiness and building a strong mobilized reserve and self-defense forces for the Health Sector, capable of completing assigned tasks. The Military Commands of units should continue to advise the Party committees and heads to build specialized medical self-defense crews to meet the requirements of the task. It is required to organize the review of the construction of mobilized reserve medical units under the Prime Minister's direction in Decision No.137/2005/QĐ-TTg issued on June 9^th, 2005 and the Health Sector mobilization force in Decree No.129/2014/NĐ-CP issued on December 31^st, 2014 by the Government on assigning targets for the Health Sector mobilization the in the times of war and emergency. Concurrently, the local military agencies should be closely coordinated with in training and inspecting the mobilized reserve and the self-defense forces in the Health Sector to ensure the correct, adequate content, time, and staffing. Besides, the duty regimes should be strictly maintained as prescribed, and the system of medical assurance documents in defensive areas and plans on health care assurance in the first year of the war and health care assurance for the people air defense, terrorism countering, natural disasters, epidemics, floods, etc. should be regularly supplemented and adjusted.

Finally, to improve the effectiveness of military-civilian medical cooperation, especially in responding to natural disasters, epidemics, implementation of social policies, and mass mobilization. Military-civilian medical cooperation is a special feature of Vietnam's Health Sector. This model has been affirming the results of the cooperation between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Defense in order to improve the efficiency of care and protection of the people's health, including the armed forces, in accordance with the guidelines and policies of the Party, Resolution No.20-NQ/TW issued on October 25^th, 2017 by the Party Central Committee (the 12^th Tenure) on "Strengthening the protection, care, and improvement of the people's health in the new situation". At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the military-civilian medical cooperation, consolidate the grassroots health network, and improve the quality of health services to the people in remote areas, borders, and islands to contribute to building the strong "people's heart and mind posture", ensuring security and politics and maintaining the sovereignty of the national borders.

Well implementing these measures will create a basis to improve the quality of defense work of the Ministry of Health, promote medical development and care and protection of the people's health, and directly contribute to sustainably protecting the Fatherland in the new era.

Assoc. Proff. Nguyen Truong Son, PhD., Deputy Minister, Chief of Military Command, Ministry of Health