Reduce the risk of tuberculosis transmission in the community.

In Vietnam, challenges from drug-resistant tuberculosis and social stigma remain barriers preventing people from receiving treatment for tuberculosis in the community. To achieve the basic goal of ending the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030, the health sector needs to strengthen screening and early detection of tuberculosis, thereby improving treatment effectiveness and reducing the risk of spread in the community.

Báo Nhân dân•14/05/2026

Healthcare workers disseminate information on tuberculosis prevention and control measures to residents in Hanoi. (Photo: VAN VAN)

In Vietnam, challenges from drug-resistant tuberculosis and social stigma remain barriers preventing people from receiving treatment for tuberculosis in the community. To achieve the basic goal of ending the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030, the health sector needs to strengthen screening and early detection of tuberculosis, thereby improving treatment effectiveness, especially reducing the risk of spread in the community.

Although tuberculosis is preventable, more than 4,100 people die from it and nearly 30,000 are infected worldwide every day. It remains the leading cause of death among infectious diseases. The disease is even more frightening because it spreads easily within the community if patients are not detected and treated promptly.

With 70% of tuberculosis cases occurring in people of working age, families face catastrophic costs—meaning the cost of diagnosing and treating tuberculosis exceeds 20% of the household's annual income. The biggest indirect cost of tuberculosis for patients is lost income due to the severity of the disease, which prevents them from working. Therefore, tuberculosis is truly an economic problem affecting not only individual patients and their families, but also the socio-economic development of countries worldwide.

A 2021 report by the World Health Organization indicates that, despite significant progress in tuberculosis prevention and control, tuberculosis remains one of the major public health problems globally. In particular, the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted achievements in the strategy to end tuberculosis by 2030...

Despite advancements in medical detection and treatment, tuberculosis remains a "silent killer," especially with challenges from drug-resistant tuberculosis, the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, and social stigma... these remain major obstacles to tuberculosis treatment in Vietnam.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hoa Binh, Deputy Director of the National Lung Hospital (Ministry of Health), Deputy Head of the National Tuberculosis Control Program Steering Committee.

In Vietnam, an average of 184,000 new cases of tuberculosis and 12,000 deaths due to tuberculosis are recorded annually. Currently, the country maintains a cure rate of over 90% for newly detected tuberculosis cases, over 70% for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients using long-term regimens, and over 80% for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients using short-term regimens.

According to the World Health Organization, Vietnam ranks 10th among 30 countries with a high burden of tuberculosis patients and 11th among 30 countries with the highest burden of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis globally. Worryingly, drug-resistant tuberculosis often arises through the selection of mutated bacterial strains due to poor treatment adherence. These drug-resistant strains are then transmitted to others. Therefore, it has been possible to detect individuals infected with drug-resistant strains from their very first tuberculosis infection.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hoa Binh, Deputy Director of the Central Lung Hospital (Ministry of Health), and Deputy Head of the National Tuberculosis Control Program Steering Committee, stated: Although medicine has made many advances in detecting and treating the disease, tuberculosis remains a "silent killer," especially with challenges from drug-resistant tuberculosis, the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, and social stigma... these remain major obstacles in tuberculosis treatment in Vietnam.

Treating tuberculosis patients in Hanoi. (Photo: Van Van)

Meanwhile, tuberculosis prevention and control efforts still face several challenges, such as: the rate of proactively detected tuberculosis patients in high-risk groups has not met the set targets; the cure rate for pulmonary tuberculosis with bacteriological evidence remains lower than desired; financial resources, especially from international funding, are trending downwards; and securing medicines, equipment, and medical supplies remains difficult due to complex and lengthy procedures, affecting the detection and treatment of this disease.

Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW dated September 9, 2025, of the Politburo, "On some breakthrough solutions to strengthen the protection, care, and improvement of people's health," clearly states: A strong shift from a mindset focused on diagnosis and treatment to proactive disease prevention, emphasizing comprehensive and continuous health protection, care, and improvement throughout the life cycle; focusing on building, perfecting, and improving the capacity of preventive medicine and the grassroots health system to ensure early, remote, and local disease prevention, and readiness to respond to public health emergencies… This is a breakthrough solution.

Local authorities need to reorganize the tuberculosis prevention and control network in a way that is streamlined, with clear responsibilities and accountability; ensuring that the entire process from detection-diagnosis-treatment-follow-up is not interrupted; strengthening patient management and reducing treatment abandonment, which increases transmission and drug resistance.
Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan

Notably, starting in 2026, every citizen will receive at least one free routine health check-up or screening per year, as proposed by the National Tuberculosis Control Program, which includes tuberculosis screening. This is particularly important because nearly 40% of tuberculosis patients are asymptomatic; without proactive screening, the disease cannot be detected. Therefore, healthcare facilities nationwide need to effectively integrate tuberculosis screening into annual routine health check-ups for the public; and integrate tuberculosis screening with screening for other respiratory diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, lung cancer, etc.) during routine check-ups.

Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan stated that localities need to reorganize the tuberculosis prevention and control network in a way that is streamlined, with clear responsibilities and accountability; ensuring that the entire process from detection-diagnosis-treatment-monitoring is not interrupted; strengthening patient management to limit treatment abandonment, which increases transmission and drug resistance; and continuing to promote proactive screening in the community, focusing on high-risk groups such as people with HIV, people with diabetes, and the elderly. Screening activities should be closely linked to routine medical examinations and periodic health check-ups, thereby maximizing opportunities for early detection.

Relying solely on the tuberculosis specialist system is insufficient; the entire healthcare system must be mobilized, including the participation of private healthcare providers. Tuberculosis prevention and control cannot be the sole responsibility of a few units or a specialized program, but rather a shared responsibility of the entire healthcare sector and the entire political system, aiming to achieve the fundamental goal of ending the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030.

THAI SON

Source: https://nhandan.vn/giam-nguy-co-lay-benh-lao-trong-cong-dong-post961977.html