On November 12, in Phu Quoc, the Department of Health Environmental Management organized a conference summarizing occupational safety and hygiene at medical facilities under the Ministry. Attending the Conference, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, deputy head of the Department of Occupational Health, School of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, reported on preliminary results "Research on occupational burden, response capacity and readiness to respond of Vietnamese health workers to the COVID-19 epidemic".
Dr. Ngoc Anh reported at the Conference
Conference Report, Dr. Ngoc Anh raised the working situation, physical and mental health of medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic such as lack of personal protective equipment, stress, anxiety, work overload or being shunned by the community. The report presented some of the results obtained in the first phase of the study, notably that up to 15.2% of healthcare workers reported having a stress disorder related to COVID-19. The results of the study also noted that health care workers feel overloaded with work, have negative attitudes at work, or are discriminated against by people around them. Dr. Ngoc Anh also highlighted the lack of facilities, overloaded work but not guaranteed income. Therefore, more than 4/5 of the study participants wanted to receive support for personal protective equipment, more than 70% wanted financial support and the majority of medical staff in the study wanted to receive more professional training related to COVID-19. However, preliminary results show that most medical staff are ready and confident to participate in COVID-19 epidemic prevention. Through those results, the research team hopes that health managers will have policies to promptly support health workers nationwide in the long fight against COVID-19. The presentation on the occupational burden of medical staff during the pandemic has been supported and highly appreciated by scientists and is scientific evidence for adding COVID-19 as one of the occupational diseases covered by medical insurance in Vietnam.
Attending this Conference in Phu Quoc, there were also many reports related to COVID-19 for medical staff. Overall, this Conference has real evidence for occupational safety and hygiene at units under the Ministry of Health, especially in the context of the very stressful COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of the Conference, Associate Professor, Doctor, Luong Mai Anh - Deputy Director of the Department of Environmental Management, Ministry of Health, gave a concluding and closing speech as well as congratulated the great success of the Conference.