HANOI (ILO News) – Students across the country can now participate in a knowledge contest on social health protection to win 11 cash awards.

The contest themed “Protecting the health of the entire population, for the cohesion and prosperity of Vietnamese society” was launched on 1 July and accepts entries until 31 July 2021.

Students can participate in one of the two categories – visual telling stories or written essays – to win prizes worth VND27 million (nearly US$1,200) in total value.

Co-organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Hanoi University of Public Health, the activity aims to raise the awareness of students and future generations on social health protection.

“Providing everyone with an equal chance to access health care services without financial hardship is a question of social Justice. Realizing greater equity in health is a goal in itself,” said Marielle Phe Goursat, manager of the ILO’s Luxembourg-funded project on supporting the extension of social health protection in Southeast Asia.
“The current health crisis has put on the spotlight that everyone must be able to access free preventative and curative services, for individual and collective well-being, social cohesion and the overall prosperity of a nation. The young generation has the power to be agent of change and to nurture a culture of social health protection in Viet Nam.”

The 2008 Law on Health Insurance made universal health coverage a national goal. In the National Strategy to protect, care and improve public health during the 2011-20 period, the Prime Minister committed to achieving coverage of 95 per cent of the population through the social health insurance scheme by 2025 and to reduce out of pocket expenditure from 57 per cent in 2010 to less than 40 per cent in 2020. The latter goal has not been achieved as the rate remained as high as 43 per cent in 2020.