50 years of united country - Part 9: Positioning Ho Chi Minh City's healthcare brand on the world map

Dare to think, dare to do, dare to change

Along with the formation and development of the city named after Uncle Ho, over the past 50 years, the health sector of Ho Chi Minh City has made constant efforts to create outstanding marks in the mission of taking care of people's health.

Dr. Truong Xuan Lieu, former Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, said that in the early days of the country's reunification, in the context of having to focus on healing the wounds of war while having to cope with siege and embargo, the city faced countless enormous challenges; but the health sector has gradually consolidated, built and developed from available human resources and facilities.

“The task of the Department of Health at that time was to ensure that medical examination and treatment for people were not interrupted, to properly address public health issues, and to prevent epidemics; on the other hand, to build a grassroots medical network from the city to districts, wards, communes, and a community medical network to meet the health examination needs of the people. Thanks to that, the health sector implemented a unified health system combining medical examination, treatment, and prevention, contributing to reducing and controlling epidemics such as malaria, polio, cholera, typhoid, neonatal tetanus, as well as helping to overcome the shortage of drugs after liberation,” shared Dr. Truong Xuan Lieu.

The surgical team separated the conjoined Vietnamese-German twins at Tu Du Hospital in 1988. Photo: DOCUMENT

Since the country has promoted the renovation process, the city's health sector has been one of the sectors that has rapidly grown, catching up with the development and integration trends, meeting the basic health care needs of the city's people. The years 1986-2004 were the period that marked a strong transformation of the city's health sector thanks to the dynamism, daring to think, daring to do of the doctors.

Many world- class techniques have been applied and implemented for the first time in Vietnam: heart surgery, phaco surgery, cleft lip, cleft palate, spine surgery... Many medical events have touched the hearts of people at home and abroad, such as the surgery to separate Vietnamese-German twins, the first 3 babies born by in vitro fertilization...

Recalling the nerve-wracking moment on the operating table, Professor Tran Dong A, former Deputy Director of Children's Hospital 2 (who directly performed the surgery to separate the Vietnamese-German twins 37 years ago) shared that at that time, surgery to separate conjoined twins was very difficult, because the domestic economy was still under embargo with many difficulties, medical equipment was inadequate, and performing initial diagnoses through imaging was almost impossible.

At exactly 7:00 a.m. on October 4, 1988, the major surgery to separate the Vietnamese-German twins was performed at Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City and was successful after 15 hours of surgery. This was a very complicated major surgery, performed in extremely difficult circumstances for the country, the medical industry operated in a situation of extreme shortages... This was not only a confirmed scientific achievement but also carried the meaning of overcoming difficulties in the special circumstances of the country...

Deputy Minister of Health TRAN VAN THUAN:

Ho Chi Minh City is a bright spot in the country in terms of healthcare.

Ho Chi Minh City is the leading locality in the country in developing high-tech expertise, performing many difficult techniques, treating many serious diseases, accessing and mastering most of the world's advanced medical techniques...

To meet the increasing and diverse health care needs of the people of the city as well as the southern provinces, contributing to socio-economic development, in the coming time, the city's health sector needs to continue investing in developing modern, high-quality medical facilities on par with the region, aiming to become a specialized medical center of the Southeast Asian region.

In addition, there should be separate policy mechanisms, possibly in a pilot form, especially financial mechanisms and pricing mechanisms for medical examination and treatment services in the direction of correct and adequate calculation, ensuring hospital operations and technical expertise development.

Mr. DUSTIN NOEL MATHIS (American nationality):

World class healthcare system

I have a wonderful family in Vietnam thanks to the IVF treatment at My Duc Hospital. Having lived and worked in Ho Chi Minh City, I found the healthcare system here to be truly world-class. That is one of the reasons why I do not want to leave. I really like it because the waiting time is short, the doctors are professional and most of them speak English. Advanced technology and affordable prices are what I will recommend to my friends when talking about Ho Chi Minh City's healthcare services, and I believe that if it continues to be maintained and developed like this, the healthcare system will develop strongly in the future.

Towards a regional medical center

According to Associate Professor, Doctor, Doctor Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, up to now, the medical workforce has not only grown rapidly in quantity but also had many outstanding achievements in research, mastering techniques, bringing the level of science and technology in the medical field closer to the world (such as organ transplantation, endoscopic surgery, interventional cardiology, nuclear medicine, assisted reproduction...).

Many specialized medical techniques are on par with those of countries with developed medicine. Ho Chi Minh City has become a destination for many doctors and physicians from countries in the region and around the world to learn and improve their expertise, such as cardiovascular intervention, heart surgery, robotic endoscopic surgery, fetal intervention, etc. The "face" of the medical industry has also changed rapidly, when many new construction projects, renovations and upgrades of general and specialized hospitals, and medical centers have been completed and put into effective use.

“In Tan Kien commune, Binh Chanh district, if before there were only rice fields, now there are new hospitals with modern infrastructure, such as the City Children's Hospital, the Blood Transfusion and Hematology Hospital, and the upcoming construction of the 115 Emergency Center, the Trauma Hospital... All are like a picture assembled and gradually depicting the first complete specialized medical cluster in the country - a model of a centralized medical area usually only seen in countries with developed health systems", Associate Professor, Doctor, Doctor Tang Chi Thuong informed.

In addition to meeting domestic quality standards and criteria, general and specialized hospitals in the city have also strived to achieve international certifications on hospital expertise and quality from prestigious international organizations, aiming to soon turn Ho Chi Minh City into a healthcare center in the ASEAN region.

According to the head of the city's health sector, many hospitals have been recognized by prestigious international organizations for their excellent professional standards in the fields of stroke, reproductive support, intervention and surgery for congenital heart disease in children, heart failure treatment, etc. (Hospitals 115, Tu Du, Hung Vuong, Nhi Dong 1, Nhan Dan Gia Dinh, etc.).

Recently, for the first time in the country, Ho Chi Minh City has had the first public hospitals recognized by the world and awarded hospital quality certificates, specifically the Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital receiving JCI certification - certification of medical service quality (USA), Hung Vuong Hospital receiving ACHS certification - international standards for health care quality (Australia)...

Associate Professor, Dr. Tang Chi Thuong said that in 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee approved the Project "Developing the Ho Chi Minh City healthcare system to become an ASEAN regional healthcare center from now until 2030 and the following years". This is not only a strategic step to improve the quality of healthcare services but also realizes the goal set out in Resolution No. 31-NQ/TW of the Politburo on the direction and tasks of Ho Chi Minh City's development until 2030, with a vision to 2045.

“With a sustainable development strategy and the determination of the entire political system, Ho Chi Minh City is gradually realizing the goal of becoming the leading healthcare center in the ASEAN region, transforming with the nation in the new era. The city not only meets the medical needs of domestic people but also attracts international patients, contributing to affirming Vietnam's position on the world healthcare map,” Associate Professor, Dr. Tang Chi Thuong affirmed.

From a system that was still inadequate, today we have built a synchronous, modern medical network, becoming a major health care center of the country. The medical workforce has not only grown rapidly in number but has also had outstanding successes in research, mastering specialized techniques, bringing the level of science and technology in the medical field to the level of some advanced countries in the world such as: organ transplantation, endoscopic surgery, interventional cardiology, nuclear medicine, assisted reproduction...

Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee NGUYEN VAN NEN

(Speaking at the meeting of medical staff on the occasion of the 70th anniversary

Vietnamese Doctors' Day (February 27, 1955 - February 27, 2025) on the morning of February 25, 2025)

THANH AN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/50-nam-non-song-lien-mot-dai-bai-9-dinh-vi-thuong-hieu-y-te-tphcm-tren-ban-do-the-gioi-post790672.html