Vietnam’s continued economic development, growth of the middle class, and increasing demand for high-quality healthcare services are crucial drivers for healthcare system here. To upgrade and expand their facilities, improve operational efficiency, and provide better services, they are investing to equip their facilities with advanced medical devices. Together with the birth rate decline, Vietnam’s aging population is resulting in higher demand for healthcare services and products. 
Over the recent years, Vietnam’s medical system has been crowned with important achievements.First, the medical system from the central to local levels has been constantly consolidated and developed. Primary healthcare activities, preventive medicine, and control of contagious and non-contagious diseases have been stepped up, promptly detecting, controlling and effectively handling health issues related to natural disasters, calamities, epidemics, including COVID-19. Every person can access quality basic medical services.

Second, the network of hospitals nationwide has been increasingly consolidated through investment with government bonds, socially mobilized resources and foreign aid projects, especially hospitals at district level and in difficulty-hit provinces. Hence, the quality of medical examination and treatment services has been constantly heightened, with many hi-tech services being widely provided, thus meeting the people’s higher and higher healthcare needs.

Third, Vietnam has recently applied different measures to renew the finance mechanism for the health sector, including the adoption of the National Assembly’s Resolution 18/2008/QH12 of June 3, 2008, on “Accelerating the implementation of socialization policies and laws in order to raise the quality of healthcare for people”, higher state budget spending for health care, and higher proportions of public expenditure on health care. The health insurance coverage has risen from year to year. The medical service charges have been renewed towards calculating correctly all expenses; meanwhile, different solutions have been applied to support vulnerable groups such as free health insurance cards for the poor, under-six children and the elderly, co-payment of health insurance for poor and ethnic minority people, etc. Thereby, poor  people in Vietnam can well access medical services, including hi-tech services, thus contributing to assuring equality in people’s health care.

Fourth, the health sector has applied various solutions to raising the quality of medical establishments’ operation, including the mechanism of autonomy in terms of finance, personnel and organizational structure to perform assigned tasks. The socialization policy has contributed to additionally mobilizing non-state budget resources for investment in medical establishments, raising service quality.

Fifth, the quality and quantity of medical personnel have been constantly improved. Different measures have been applied to sustainably develop health workers for difficult regions, such as nomination-based training and area-based training. Various solutions have been applied to attract health workers to work in mountainous, deep-lying and remote areas. . The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, which was passed by the 15th National Assembly on January 9, 2023, and will take effect on January 1, 2024, is expected to enhance the management and raise the quality of medical personnel, including a new process of granting medicine practicing licenses.
With these achievements, almost all basic health indexes of Vietnam have reached the national obj

ectives and the Millenary Development Goals as well as the Sustainable Development Goals to 2030, surpassing the average level of countries with the same average per-capita income level. Vietnam’s average life span has increased; the maternal mortality rate dropped; the mortality rate among children of under one year dropped. The malnutrition rate also reduced . The expanded vaccination program has been carried out at commune health stations since 1985, proving a success of the grassroots health network, without non-vaccination communes by 1995 in the whole country. Vietnam completely eliminated polio in 2000 and neonatal tetanus in 2005.
Along with, Public and private hospitals in Vietnam are upgrading their facilities and opening new departments for specialty treatment.

Public hospitals dominate the healthcare system and account for 86% of the total hospital number in Vietnam. 
However, the Vietnamese healthcare sector is currently facing several challenges:

First, the people’s healthcare needs have risen quantitatively and qualitatively. Health risks related to environment, life style, climate change have not been well controlled yet.

Second, though the general health indexes are fairly good, the gaps between regions and zones and between population groups have been widened. The health conditions of people in mountainous, deep-lying, remote, and ethnic minority regions remain poor, especially the maternal mortality rate, the infant mortality rate, and the child malnutrition rate.

Third, the medical system and primary health care activities largely concentrate on treatment of sick people at medical establishments. The service-providing capacity of grassroots-level medical establishments, especially commune health stations, is limited due to a lack of human resources, low professional qualifications of health workers, poor medical equipment and facilities, and a shortage of medicines, medical equipment and supplies. The treatment service-providing capacity of district-level health establishments commune health stations remain limited. Most hospitals are  face chronic overcrowding. Hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City receive up to 60% of the country’s patients and operate at 200% of the capacity. Much of the existing medical equipment in public hospitals in Vietnam is obsolete and needs replacement. Many hospitals lack sufficient equipment for surgery and intensive care units.
Fourth, The total budget for the health sector has increased but is still too low to meet the demands. A number of financial mechanisms and policies such as financial autonomy, socialization of financial sources should be early adjusted to avoid their adverse impacts, especially the abuse of medical services.

Fifth, a shortage of qualified medical staff is common in many hospitals. Doctors and nurses work under stressful conditions and wages are relatively low.the health sector’s human resources remain inadequate quantitatively and qualitatively and are distributed irrationally between levels, regions as well as professional fields, especially the shortage of physicians and pharmacists in rural, mountainous, deep-lying and remote areas. 
In the coming time, The government would continue to put the focus on the health ministry, the healthcare sector and all related stakeholders to overcome challenges and improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare services. Along with studying and refining the legal frameworks, policies and regulations, priority would be given to technology application in healthcare management, strengthening the leader’s responsibility in relevant agencies and promptly addressing any shortcomings during implementation.
 Gradually reform the organisational structure of the health sector in terms of streamlined efficiency and effectiveness, and develop the strategic planning for the sector, including planning for the network of medical facilities by 2030. Together, we will deploy innovative solutions to develop human resources and international integration, and propose policies to improve remuneration for staff.

We will check and review service prices are correct and solve problems and make innovations in payment methods, update preventive health financing, implement the programme of socioeconomic recovery and development, and ensure a roadmap for universal health insurance coverage alongside the payment of medical expenses with appropriate health insurance.

Finally, we will carry out administrative reform associated with IT and digital transformation, and reduce and simplify regulations related to business activities under the management of the MoH, especially in the fields of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.