HCM CITY – Investment in health literacy would be a useful initiative in Việt Nam and other ASEAN countries to help reach health goals, according to Asian Health Literacy Association. The development of adequate and satisfactory health literacy becomes more critically needed in modern societies, especially in societies at which people wanted to last their lives long without significant burderns of diseases, Chang said. “Health literacy serves to empower individuals, patients, their families and communities on all health issues, including reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health, infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases, mental health, road safety and preventing unintentional poisoning and injuries,” he added. Health literacy helps individuals keep healthy behaviours; maintain and promote health status; reduce latency of fully-developed disorders; minimize the side-effects and burderns of post-actue illnesses; facilitate early rehabilitation and comprehensive recovery from diseases. One study on health literacy and its impact on the quality of healthcare services among patients with type 2 diabetes at Thủ Đức District Hospital showed that empowering patients via improvement of health literacy enables health-friendly environments, better self-care with fewer health risks, and lower healthcare costs.

Source: Viet Nam News October 02, 2017 01:52 UTC