According to statistics of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, 1.3 million people nationwide received regular social allowances and 11.8 million others were entitled to health insurance in the year.
More than 59,500 national revolutionary contributors and their family members received education and training support.
As of August 2018, the country supported over 178,120 households to build and upgrade their houses.
This year, the country searched for remains of fallen soldiers, finding 1,772 and identifying 161 cases that lacked information.
The rate of poor households nationwide was reduced by 5.35 percent (down 1.35 percent compared to the previous year) thanks to localities’ attention to poverty reduction, support policies on health care, education, credit, agriculture and forestry expansion.
The country offered monthly social allowances and health insurance cards for over 2.8 million people, including 42,434 orphans, over 1.6 million elderly, over 1 million disabled, and nearly 4,400 HIV/AIDS infected people.
A dozen of localities were able to balance their budgets to increase the provision of social allowances, namely Ha Giang, Quang Ninh, Hanoi, Da Nang, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh Hoa, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, and Vinh Phuc.
For emergency subsidies, the country has witnessed 14 types of natural disasters from the beginning of this year with total damage estimated at over 6.3 trillion VND (271 million USD). The Prime Minister has decided to provide 701,445 tonnes of rice for 4,417 households in Bac Kan, Binh Dinh and Lai Chau, along with the nearly 12 million tonnes on the occasion of traditional Lunar New Year for 796,425 needy people across 18 provinces.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the central steering committee on implementing the Government’s Resolution No.70/NQ-CP on social welfare policies, suggested mobilising the participation of the community and businesses in the field.
He added that the implementation of sustainable poverty reduction programmes should focus on socio-economic development in ethnic minority, mountainous, border and island areas.
The Government official also recommended creating equal opportunities and providing necessary support for women, children and vulnerable people in the spirit of leaving no one behind.
