The programme sets out targets to comprehensively develop traditional medicine and strengthen the combination between traditional medicine and modern medicine in order to protect, care for and improve people’s health in the new context.

The comprehensive development of traditional medicine involves improving health check-up and treatment capacity in terms of human resources, facilities and equipment for traditional medicine establishments; ensuring 95 per cent of central-level provinces and cities having traditional medicine hospitals; 90 per cent of hospitals have traditional medicine departments; 100 per cent of clinics at communes, wards and towns carrying out consultation activities on the use of traditional medicine in healthcare or providing health check-up and treatment using traditional medicine; and increasing the rate of combination between traditional medicine and modern medicine in health check-up and treatment at hospitals at all levels.

In terms of the combination between traditional and modern medicine, by 2025, 100 per cent of traditional medicine hospitals invest in infrastructure development and modern equipment; 100 per cent of hospital staff are trained and updated with knowledge to use modern equipment and devices for health check-up and treatment; 10 per cent of traditional medicine establishments from provincial level upwards are buying equipment and devices for production of traditional medicine and these products will be covered by the health insurance fund when provided for patients.

By 2030, 15 per cent of traditional medicine general hospitals will invest in buying equipment and devices to produce modern forms of traditional medicines; 100 per cent of traditional medicine doctors will receive regular and further training on modern medicine; training and professional documents on the combination of traditional and modern medicine will be developed following standards for use at health check-up and treatment facilities; the rate of health check-ups and treatment using traditional medicine and the number of health check-ups and treatment establishments combining traditional and modern medicine will increase.

In order to fulfil these targets, the programme introduces some tasks and solutions, including studying and completing mechanisms and policies on traditional medicine development, promoting scientific research on traditional medicine; improving human resources training quality to meet traditional medicine development in combination with modern medicine; and continuing to build, upgrade and invest in equipment and devices for traditional medicine hospitals following the Prime Minister’s Decision No.362/QD-TTg in 2014./.