Health in Vietnam encompasses general and specific concerns to the region, its history, and various socioeconomic status, such as dealing with malnutrition, effects of Agent Orange as well as psychological issues from the Vietnam War, tropical diseases, and other issues such as underdeveloped healthcare systems or inadequate ratio of healthcare or social workers to patients.
Life expectancy has risen by two years for males and females in Vietnam between 2000 and 2012. This is half of the average rise in life expectancy for other parts of the world during the same time period. However, by 2022, the life expectancy of Vietnamese people is 73.7 years old; the life expectancy of men is 71 years and that of women is 76.4 years.
Malnutrition is still not as common as it was in the provinces and the government spending on health care corresponded to just 0.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Government subsidies covered only about 20 percent of health care expenses, with the remaining 80 percent coming out of individuals’ own pockets. Although cases of malnutrition has decreased overall, it still remains a concern, particularly due to health sector inequalities or among the ethnic minority.
In 2012, almost 22% of deaths could be attributed to strokes. This leading cause of death was followed by heart disease with 7% of deaths, and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with 4.9% of deaths. The two largest risk factors for adults are tobacco use and raised blood pressure.
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that Vietnam is doing 91.1% of what should be possible at its level of income, for the right to health. Human rights expects have identified that people groups such as people who are homeless, people with low social or economic status, and street children/homeless youth are particularly at risk of having their right to health violated.
Additionally, as Vietnam is also within the tropical zone, tropical diseases have also been a major concern past and present, such as from malaria, dengue fever, etc, where branches of medicine such as tropical medicine or infectious disease was required to help treat patients. Neglected tropical diseases have also been a concern as well.
Health Issues
Beginning in the late 1980s, the quality of health care began to decline as a result of budgetary constraints, a shift of responsibility to the provinces, and the introduction of charges. Inadequate funding had led to delays in planned upgrades to water supply and sewage systems. Consequently, at that time almost half the population had no access to clean water, a deficiency that promotes such infectious diseases as malaria, dengue fever, typhoid, and cholera. Additionally, inadequate funding has contributed to a shortage of nurses, midwives, and hospital beds. In 2000, Vietnam had only 250,000 hospital beds, or 14.8 beds per 10,000 people, a very low ratio among Asian nations, according to the World Bank. Government expenditure on health has declined and the health system is largely financed through user-fees, which has direct implications for the rural poor, deterring them from accessing health care. As of 2017, Vietnam has a population of 96.1 million people. Drug-resistant tuberculosis, pathogenic influenza, HIV/AIDS, and smoking are continuous problems that impact the quality of health in Vietnam. Health risk factors such as smoking and the lack of funding for healthcare attribute to the epigenetic health of the population In 2008, the Government of Vietnam adopted a USAID methadone program that served 50,000 clients. Since 2014, Vietnam is transitioning its country to a universal healthcare system since 70% of its citizens have to pay out-of-pocket payments. There is also an inadequate ratio of doctors to patients. There are 8 doctors for every 10,000 patients. Preventive treatments such as the HPV vaccination are prohibitively expensive, and thus not effective in battling chronic diseases.