English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
in 2002. However, only around 65 percent of communes have a doctor. 545 The proportion of
communes with doctors is much lower in the remote and mountainous regions, such as in the
North West (23 percent), North East (53 percent) and Central Highlands (53 percent) of Viet
Nam. 546 Pharmaceutical retailing - including private drug stores (accounting for 72 percent of
the retail market for pharmaceuticals) - provides essential medicines to communes and wards,
including in remote and mountainous regions and on islands. 547 In most cases, the disparities
in health-care coverage is disproportionately borne by the poor, ethnic minorities and those
who lived in remote and mountainous regions. 548 Facilities relating to pregnancy, maternity and
reproductive health care are discussed fully in Indicator 87. The discussion shows that a high
ratio of births is assisted by a midwife, obstetric-pediatric assistant doctors and health-care
workers. However, some regions, in particular remote and mountainous regions, post lower
ratios. 549
As to the number of female health-care workers, more than 70 percent of health-care
workers in communes are women, but most of the directors are men. 550 In such cases,
women’s health care priorities may not always be appropriately addressed.
In relation to the budget for health-care, its share of total government spending over the
last five years has fluctuated only 6-7 percent, which is low in terms of international
standards. 551 The UNDP Human Development Report 2005 notes that aid money accounts for
more than 25 percent of the health-care funds for the poor. 552 Increased health-care spending
is happening due to health insurance and social welfare funds. The system depends to a great
extent on private contributions, including from the poor. 553 There are also policies in place to
step up the socialization and privatization of the health-care sector. There are also some
provisions on access by the poor through health insurance cards. This is discussed more
thoroughly in Indicator 86 below.
Health-care needs
As to the health-care needs of women and men, they are different. Life expectancy for both
men and women in Viet Nam is high; however, men die at a younger age than women. In 2002,
life expectancy at birth was estimated at 70 years for men and 73 years for women. 554 Noninfectious
disease is the primary cause of death for both men and women in Viet Nam. 555
However, men are twice as likely as women to be killed by accidents and one-and-a-half times
more likely to die from infectious diseases. 556 The reasons can be found in the Survey
544
Ibid.
545
Wells, op. cit., p. 36
546
Ibid.
253
547
Combined Fifth and Sixth Periodic Report, p. 37
548
Wells, op. cit., p. 34
549
GSO Statistics, pp. 63-65
550
Wells, op. cit., p. 37
551
Ibid., pp. 34-35
552
Ibid., p. 35 citing United Nations Development Programme, ‘Human Development Report 2005’, UNDP, New York, 2005
553
Ibid., p. 35
554
Wells, op. cit., p. 42
555
Ibid.
556
Ibid.
Health (Article 12 of CEDAW)