Vietnam and Denmark promote healthcare cooperation

Vietnam is in a transition where socio-economic development, urbanization and an ageing population are changing the disease patterns and increasing the demand for health services. Statistics show the country has experienced an increase of non-communicable diseases from 46% of the disease burden in 1990, to 74% in 2017.

Many Vietnamese national indicators, especially in communicable diseases, malnutrition and infant and maternal health, show impressive progress and improvements, demonstrating that Vietnam has done extremely well in translating economic growth into concrete benefits for its citizens, enhancing both social and human development. National averages, however, still mask inequities – in particular for ethnic minorities, and other disadvantaged groups who do not have equitable access to health care services.

During a meeting with the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan, Løhde noted that primary health care is crucial in ensuring equal access to health and tackling the growing burden of non-communicable diseases.

“I hope that our cooperation can serve as inspiration for the development of a strong Vietnamese model for ensuring equal access to basic health care, reducing out-of-pocket spending and helping patients live their lives to the fullest despite diseases,” said the Danish Minister.

Meeting with Nguyen Thuy Anh, chairperson of the Vietnam National Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee, the two sides explored opportunities to strengthen Vietnam’s primary healthcare system and discussed how to enhance equal access to health services for disadvantaged communities in the country.

The Danish Minister also made a field trip to Thai Binh province, where training activities and joint research are being carried out. She also engaged with Vietnamese partners in an effort to curb anti-microbial resistance, a killer of more than 1.3 million people globally in 2019, during a call at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.

Phase three of the cooperation, which consolidates the results gained during phase one and two and further advances the cooperation in primary health care and non-communicable diseases, is expected to commence later this year.  

Løhde’s trip was the first Danish high-level visit to Vietnam following the signing of the Green Strategic Partnership (GSP) last November, in which both Vietnam and Denmark reaffirm mutual commitment to the continued cooperation in the healthcare sector, one of five bilateral Strategic Sector Cooperation programs.  

The Strategic Sector Cooperation between Vietnamese health authorities and Danish health authorities started in 2016. It aims to strengthen primary health care in Vietnam for prevention, detection and treatment management of non-communicable diseases through policy dialogue, technical exchanges and training. The Strategic Sector Cooperation includes activities at policy level with the Ministry of Health as well as the local level, including the Department of Health and 30 commune health stations in Thai Binh province.

In addition to the Strategic Sector Cooperation, Denmark supports Vietnam through the Danida Fellowship Center (DFC) training courses and joint research projects, promoting the transfer of knowledge, expertise and experiences between health-workers and experts of the two countries. Currently, the Vietnamese DFC alumni in health has more than 120 people, who have studied in Denmark for either short courses, master degrees or PhDs.