Volume 29, Issue 4, 2020
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.911
Ensuring rights to access health services for ethnic minorities in Vietnam in current context
Abstract
Ensuring human rights of ethnic minorities, including the right to access health services, is one of the important contents, recognized and protected in international legal documents and nations’ laws. Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country with 54 ethnic groups, of which Kinh people are the majority, accounting for about 87%, the remaining 53 ethnic minorities account for only 13% of the population but live in the large area, accounting for % of the whole country territory, mainly mountainous, remote, and border areas, where natural conditions are harsh, and socio-economic conditions are extremely difficult. Over the past years, the Government of Vietnam has made great efforts to ensure human rights in general, ethnic minorities' right to access health services in particular and in fact has achieved important results not only in improving laws and policies but more importantly, showing the progress in implementing the criteria: coverage, accessibility, acceptability and quality of service. Nevertheless, assurance about the rights of ethnic minorities to access health services, especially quality services with favorable conditions and reasonable costs, is still a challenge today. Based on the theoretical framework, approach method and evaluation criteria, the article outlines some of the advancements and challenges posed in improving the equitable accessibility of health services of ethnic minorities, from that, making recommendations on policies to ensure this right in accordance with the context of ethnic minorities in Vietnam.
Keywords
Human rights; health services; ensuring rights; ethnic minorities; Vietnam