(VOVworld) - Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has urged Central Highlands provinces to continue improving the grassroots healthcare system to ensure adequate health checks and treatment for locals. Addressing the Ministry’s Tuesday conference in Dak Lak province, Minister Tien hailed the recent launch of phase II of a project worth 76 million USD to improve healthcare access in the Central Highlands for ethnic minority groups.

Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien attends the conference on January 27th, 2015 in Dak Lak province. Photo: daklak.gov.vn

Conference participants agreed that priority should be given to investing in medical equipment, improving the capacity of the provincial health staff, and drafting policies to attract health workers to remote and ethnic minority areas. By the end of 2014, the region had 878 medical facilities with an average ratio of 6.8 doctors to every 10,000 people.