Hanoi (VNA) – 💦Healthcare services that are popular for foreigners living in Vietnam and overseas Vietnamese, including orthodontic treatment, cardiovascular intervention, cosmetics surgery and some other surgeries.

The quality of medical checkups and treatment has made great stride in the last year. Patient satisfaction has surged, as surveys in many hospitals showed the figure exceeded 90 percent. Notably, Vietnam’s health sector has attracted many foreigners and overseas Vietnamese returning home for medical checkups and treatment.

Model attracts patients back to grassroots medical establishments  

Speaking with reporters on January 9, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said the health sector has recorded proud achievements, as many health establishments have mastered advanced techniques. The Ministry of Health (MoH) hopes that more Vietnamese people will return to the home country for treatment, and patients will go to medical establishments at grassroots levels. With this model, the number of hospitalised patients only accounts for 10 percent in health establishments at the central level, while 90 percent of healthy citizens receive frequent healthcare services. This helps avoid a situation where patients come to hospital to receive examinations, but their illnesses have become severe, difficult to cure and costly. In the last year statistics showed that about 300,000 foreigners got medical checkups in Vietnam, with 50,000 in-patients. Foreigners seeking medical examinations and treatment in Vietnam were mostly overseas Vietnamese and some from Laos, Cambodia and those living and working in the country. Health services common among expatriates in Vietnam and overseas Vietnamese include orthodontic treatment, cardiovascular intervention, cosmetics surgery and other surgeries. The Minister of Health said: “Many patients choose Vietnam thanks to high quality and reasonable prices compared to other countries. Therefore, we are working to attract more patients who are foreigners staying in the country.” She cited the fact that Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh recently underwent a coronary stent placement at the Vietnam National Heart Institute. He was nervous at first, and then to his surprise, after a few minutes, doctors said the procedure was completed. “The minister said he was taken by surprise as anaesthesia and stent placement only took place for a short while and were very safe, voicing his satisfaction with Vietnam’s medical progress,” Tien stated.

Promoting high quality services

The Minister of Health also expressed her hope to create high-quality medical services so that patients don’t need to travel abroad for treatment. The MoH is building modern health establishments under foreign designs, such as the Bach Mai Hospital and the second establishment of the Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital. The improvement of health quality services will be implemented at all levels. The central level now focuses on improving difficult techniques instead of treating patients with minor illnesses, as the patients may receive treatment at lower levels. In a recent meeting with Tien, Director of the Vietnam-Germany Hospital Tran Binh Giang shared that the hospital received a patient from Taiwan, who was hospitalised when travelling in Vietnam. Doctors of the hospital successfully performed a surgery for him.

🌌Afterward, doctors of the hospital were astonished to find the patient was a Taiwanese billionaire. Upon his return, he presented 100,000 USD to the hospital. With the money, the hospital could afford to send doctors to Taiwan and the Republic of Korea to study lung transplants and tissue preservation.

To enhance capacity at all levels, Tien said the health sector is working to mobilise human resources at provincial and central levels to medical estblishments at lower levels, helping people access better health services.-VNA