On September 18th 2015, the First Programme Implementation Workshop in the framework of the European Union - funded Health Sector Policy Support Program Phase II Programme was held by the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Viet Nam and the Ministry of Finance of Viet Nam.

The workshop, co-chaired by H.E. Associate Professor, Doctor Pham Le Tuan, Vice Minister of Health of Viet Nam and H.E. Mr. Alejandro Montalban Carrasco – Head of Cooperation and Development Section of the EU Delegation to Vietnam, served as the high level dialogue on future improvement of the health status of population in Vietnam as well as securing access to the health services to the population in the country.

More than 100 participants representing Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, State Treasury, Viet Nam Social Security, Ministry of Planning and Investment, as well as 10 targeted provinces and international development partners working in Viet Nam health sector participated in the workshop.

The major objectives of the Workshop are to familiarize the stakeholders concerned with the contents of the Phase II Sector Reform Contract, disbursement criteria and operational modality and based on the lessons learnt from the implementation of the HSPSP Phase I advise the provincial authorities on the priority actions and programs for budgetary allocation under the Sector Reform Contract II.

The Health Sector Policy Support Programme phase II "Towards Equity and Quality of Health Services in Vietnam" operational from December 2014, envisages a budget support in the form of a Sector Reform Contract (SRC) (100 million Euro) and complementary technical services provided through the European Union Health Facility (EU-HF) and a contribution to the "Health Professional Education and Training Project (HPET)" implemented by the World Bank.