Each person will have a unique health ID card. (Illustrative photo)

Hanoi - Each Vietnamese citizen will be issued with a unique health ID card, which they will be able to use throughout their lives, according to the Ministry of Health.

The ID will be automatically generated through the general identification system of the ministry and used to identify individuals for healthcare services.

Each ID will have a series of characters, of which the first ten are unique to the holder.

The numbers are based on basic personal information including name, year of birth and place of birth.

According to the regulation issued by the health ministry on creating, using and managing health IDs, each healthcare facility will have an account to access the national health identification system.

If the facilities are not connected with the system, healthcare staff must access the website of the national health identification system and search for the details of each patient.

The ID cards will be able to create and connect health reports for patients nationwide.

Healthcare facilities are responsible for managing the IDs and have to ensure the security of personal information and the national system.

The health identifications are managed through the national health identification system located at the healthcare data centre at the Information Technology Department under the health ministry.

The database of the national health identification system will be linked with the database of households signing up for the social security scheme./.