Many people have never had their blood pressure measured until they have a stroke.

Many people do not know their blood pressure until they are hospitalized for a stroke. With regular health check-ups, strokes can be prevented early and at very low cost.

Many people never know their personal blood pressure index.

"Many patients have never known their blood pressure readings until they are hospitalized for a stroke. If they have regular health check-ups and early risk control, strokes can be completely prevented, adding many years of healthy life."

That is the assessment of Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co, Director of Bach Mai Hospital, about the importance of annual health check-ups and disease screening in detecting and controlling chronic diseases.

Annual health check-ups help control risks, reduce disease burden, and increase healthy living time.

PHOTO: LIEN CHAU

With more than 30 years of experience in the medical profession, and many years of directly treating serious cases, Mr. Co shared that many patients have never been examined, never known their blood pressure index, until they were hospitalized in a coma due to a stroke, with blood pressure index that was too high.

Therefore, implementing periodic health check-ups or free screening for people at least once a year according to priority groups and roadmaps, from 2016 as stated in Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW of the Politburo , is humane, strategic, and truly meaningful for people's health.

Mr. Co added that he himself had witnessed a family that had just escaped poverty, but only one person became seriously ill, and after a long period of treatment, the family fell back into poverty. Therefore, if each person had a health check and early detection of risks, not only would they avoid illness or receive early and effective treatment, but they would also maintain their health to work, creating material value for themselves, their families and society.

Meanwhile, for many diseases, the cost of prevention is much lower than the cost of treatment when the disease has complications. For example, with stroke and diabetes, the cost of treatment is high due to complications, and long-term treatment is required. However, the risk of disease can be detected very early, thereby actively controlling and preventing, with only basic tests, which are not expensive at all.

About 30,000 billion VND/year for periodic health check-ups for the whole population

The Ministry of Health said it is urgently implementing life-cycle health management solutions, gradually reducing the burden of medical costs, and implementing major policies stated in Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW, in which, from 2026, people will receive periodic health check-ups or free screening at least once a year, moving towards basic hospital fee exemption by 2030.

According to Dr. Ha Anh Duc, Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management (Ministry of Health ), the Ministry of Health is developing a project to submit to the Government an action plan, which clearly stipulates the content and list of necessary tests and paraclinical tests. Effective examination packages, maximizing costs, absolutely no waste.

"The estimated cost for medical examination is about 300,000 VND/person/year. Vietnam's population is about 100 million people, so the total cost is about 30,000 billion VND/year. Of which, the state budget spends about 25,000 billion VND, the rest is paid by employers for about 16 million workers; and socialized sources," said Mr. Duc.

According to Mr. Duc, Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW shifts the focus from "treatment" to "disease prevention", taking preventive medicine and grassroots health care as the foundation, helping people access quality health services and comprehensive health management right at commune-level health stations.

Along with disease screening, people can effectively manage chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, etc., thereby reducing the burden of disease due to disease complications.

During the 2025 - 2030 period, each year localities will rotate at least 1,000 doctors to commune health stations, by 2027 each station will have 4 - 5 doctors.

According to a study by the Institute of Health Strategy and Policy, assessing the economic impact of hypertension screening, in the first year the cost of treatment remained quite high (more than 9,000 billion VND), then gradually decreased due to a reduction in the number of serious complications. By the fourth year, it was only 195 billion VND. From the fifth year, the budget saved on treatment costs. By the tenth year, it was estimated that the budget saved more than 7,700 billion VND. In total, over 10 years, it could save up to more than 12,000 billion VND, due to reduced costs of treating hypertension and related diseases.

Similar to diabetes, over 10 years, the state budget saved nearly 1,700 billion VND.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhieu-nguoi-chua-tung-duoc-do-huyet-ap-cho-den-khi-dot-quy-185250917200407705.htm