Building Vietnam into a destination with reputable medical and tourism services

On September 12, the Ministry of Health informed that the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have just signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in developing tourism and healthcare effectively and sustainably for the period 2025-2030, focusing on building the brand of Vietnam to become a destination with prestigious tourism and healthcare services in the region and the world...

Accordingly, in the memorandum of cooperation, the two sides cooperate to maximize the potential, advantages and resources of the health and tourism sectors, contributing to the socio -economic development of the country in the new era.

40,000 high-income Vietnamese go abroad for treatment each year.

Dr. Ha Anh Duc - Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management (Ministry of Health ) said that the Ministry of Health is seeking opinions on the draft project to develop high-quality medical examination and treatment services, promote medical tourism, and attract foreigners and Vietnamese people with the ability to pay for the period 2025-2030.

This project aims to comprehensively improve the service quality of leading hospitals, specialized hospitals and other qualified hospitals, towards achieving national and international quality standards. From there, gradually meet and attract foreigners to seek medical examination and treatment in Vietnam, while reducing the number of Vietnamese people going abroad for medical examination and treatment.

According to Mr. Duc, many countries have been successful with the medical tourism model such as Thailand, China, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia...

However, in the project, the Ministry of Health also said that, besides the advantages, the hospital system in Vietnam is still facing a number of difficulties and challenges that need to be addressed, such as hospital quality, financial mechanisms, etc. This situation causes about 40,000 high-income Vietnamese people to go abroad for treatment each year. Not only does it cause foreign currency loss, but it also affects the reputation of the domestic hospital system.

In addition, although it has been renovated and upgraded in many places, the infrastructure, space and facilities in many hospitals are still not synchronized, not meeting the requirements of foreigners and patients with high spending ability. Some specialized departments are in a state of overload, affecting the ability to develop services on demand.

The project to develop high-quality medical examination and treatment services, promote medical tourism, attract foreigners and Vietnamese people with the ability to pay in the period 2025-20230 sets the target that by 2030, at least 15 hospitals nationwide (including both public and private) will meet international quality standards (JCI or equivalent), of which at least 5 are public hospitals. 100% of medical examination and treatment facilities participating in the pilot have an international marketing and communication department, providing information in at least 3 languages (Vietnamese, English, Chinese or Korean).

Promote medical tourism

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that in Vietnam, the medical examination and treatment system has gone through 70 years of development and achieved many great achievements, so the construction and implementation of this project has advantages, which is a premise for the successful implementation of the project.

The Vietnamese team of doctors has mastered many complex techniques at world-class level such as robotic surgery, endoscopy, organ transplantation, treatment of tumors, infectious diseases and specialized surgeries on eyes, ears, nose and throat, cardiovascular system, etc. The doctors are well-trained domestically and internationally, highly skilled, and highly appreciated by international colleagues.

Doctors perform a liver transplant on a patient. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)

Some techniques such as endoscopic heart surgery and thyroid tumor surgery have been learned from abroad. In addition, traditional Vietnamese medicine has a long history, with famous physicians such as Tue Tinh, Hai Thuong Lan Ong and traditional treatment methods such as acupuncture, acupressure, etc. are gradually being recognized and applied internationally.

In the past 5 years, the quality of medical examination and treatment has improved significantly. Hospitals have actively implemented innovation in service style, improved medical ethics and behavior, aiming at patient satisfaction.

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in developing tourism and healthcare effectively and sustainably for the period 2025-2030. The Memorandum of Understanding aims to build a system linking healthcare services with tourism and resort services to attract tourists and promote Vietnam's medical potential and advantages; create favorable conditions for implementing a model of tourism services combined with healthcare services to improve the capacity to provide medical tourism services associated with tourism development.

According to the Minister of Health, the cooperation agreement especially emphasizes building the Vietnamese brand to become a destination with prestigious tourism and medical services in the region and the world, increasing the attraction of domestic and international tourists to use tourism and medical services at medical examination and treatment facilities in Vietnam.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Health coordinate to develop, advise, propose, and submit to competent authorities to issue policies to facilitate tourism businesses' access to medical examination and treatment facilities that provide quality medical services; at the same time, support medical facilities in developing strategies and specific service packages to attract tourists to use medical services...

According to Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung, the tourism industry will expand and encourage healthcare tourism services connected with medical facilities in tourism service establishments and specialized activities; the health sector will increase investment in high-quality services, connecting with travel businesses to promote attracting foreigners to Vietnam for medical examination and treatment.

The tourism industry also promotes annual tourism promotion programs, focusing on coordinating with medical examination and treatment facilities to introduce Vietnam's medical strengths such as: Traditional medicine, high-quality, specialized medical examination and treatment services, etc.

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that the health sector coordinates with the tourism sector to develop content introducing the quintessence of Vietnamese medicine, suitable medical tourism service packages and participate in domestic and international tourism promotion programs.../.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/xay-dung-viet-nam-thanh-diem-den-co-cac-dich-vu-y-te-va-du-lich-uy-tin-post1061407.vnp