Hospital Management Asia conference held in HCM City
The 15th Hospital Management Asia (HMA) conference was opened in Ho Chi Minh City on September 7 with the participation of some 1,000 delegates from 400 hospitals and organisations in 35 countries.
Medical workers tend to a child contracting Japanese encephalitis virus (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNA)💧 – The 15th Hospital Management Asia (HMA) conference was opened in Ho Chi Minh City on September 7 with the participation of some 1,000 delegates from 400 hospitals and organisations in 35 countries.
During the two-day event, 104 speakers from 22 countries will share experience at 75 sessions.
They focus on hospitals’ social responsibility, human resources development, improving service quality for internal customers, marketing and public relations, patient safety, improving clinical service quality, customer services, technical infrastructure and medical equipment improvement, hospital governance reforms, and IT application in health care.
Fifty-three collective awards will be presented to the best among 322 quality improvement initiatives. Meanwhile, Vi Nguyet Ho, who founded the Vietnam Nurses Association, will be honoured with the devotion award for her life-long contributions to the nursing in the country.
Speaking at the conference, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said the Vietnamese Government prioritises social welfare programmes and considers promoting health care a prerequisite for the country’s socio-economic development.
Her ministry has strived to ensure fair, effective and quality health care over the past years. There are 1,300 hospitals with 250,000 patient beds in Vietnam at present. They serve over 150 million outpatients and 15 million inpatients while conducting 3 million surgeries every year.
Tien admitted challenges facing the local health care sector and expressed the willingness to learn from other countries’ experience.
The HMA conference is held by the Asian Hospital Federation with a view to sharing experience in hospital management and service improvement among regional and global nations.
Vietnam hosted the HMA conference in HCM City in 2009 and Hanoi in 2012.-VNA
More and more public and private hospitals in HCM City have taken efforts to reach criteria for quality standards issued by the Health Ministry, according to the city's Department of Health.
The building and upgrading of new health facilities in the country as well as the improved capacity of doctors, especially at the grassroots level, has helped reduce patient overload at hospitals.
The Hanoi Department of Health is to officially launch website //qlhanhnghekcb.gov.vn on August 15 to issue practising permits for health workers and business licences to health care stations.
Vietnam now boasts a nationwide healthcare network with 1,665 hospitals, 384 of which are non-public, supported by local commune- and ward-level stations. At the end of 2024, hospital bed capacity reached 34 per 10,000 people, slightly above the global average.
The 56-year-old patient from Quang Tri province was discharged in stable condition as he no longer experienced shortness of breath and was able to walk, move around, and eat normally.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Vu Trung, Director of the Pasteur Institute, said that under the MoU, the two sides committed to promoting diverse and practical collaborative activities, including joint conferences and workshops, exchanges of scholars, researchers and students, sharing academic materials, and the development of specific programmes and projects in scientific research, training, and epidemic prevention.
TytoCare, a leading Israeli telemedicine company based in Netanya, is willing to work with Vietnamese regulators, insurers, and healthcare providers to develop a sustainable digital health ecosystem.
The partnership is under the framework of a Memorandum of Understanding on the development and implementation of the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control, signed in Hanoi on July 22.
An estimated 7 million Vietnamese are currently living with diabetes, but about 50% remain undiagnosed, a dangerous gap that is fuelling serious, preventable complications and increasing the burden on the healthcare system.
In 2024, Vietnam achieved 99% coverage for the first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine, up from 80% in 2023. Immunisation coverage in the country has not only rebounded to the high levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic but has now surpassed the rates recorded in 2019.
Health authorities in HCM City have issued an urgent alert after six people died from dengue fever, amid a spike in infections driven by the onset of the rainy season.
During the peak months of July and August 2025, the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) needs at least 90,000 units of blood to supply 180 hospitals in the northern region. However, despite continuous efforts, the reserve blood is still short of 30,000 units.
The Hanoi ceremony highlighted efforts to ensure all citizens, especially women and youth, can access accurate information and healthcare services to make informed reproductive choices.
After such a long time, the law has revealed many limitations, prompting the Ministry of Health (MoH) to gather opinions to amend the law to give more chances to thousands of patients every year.
Currently, cardiovascular specialists from the 108 Military Central Hospital are working alongside a team of Prof.Dr. Jan D. Schmitto, Deputy Director of MHH’s Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery on clinical trials for MCS devices, implanted in heart failure patients either as a bridge to transplantation or as permanent treatment.
The centre not only serves residents living on the island, but also receives tens of thousands of visitors every year, according to Assoc Prof Dr Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the HCM CIty Department of Health.
Not only does Vietnam attract international tourists with its landscapes, culture, and cuisine, but it is also gradually becoming a reliable destination for medical treatment, offering high-quality services at reasonable costs.
Over the past six months, 150 communal health stations in provinces including Ha Giang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Yen Bai, Tay Ninh, Hau Giang, Ben Tre and Ca Mau have been equipped with information technology systems. In addition, 117 key provincial healthcare workers have received training, with thousands more expected to follow.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Ministry of Health swiftly launched a telemedicine programme, connecting more than 1,000 medical establishments nationwide. The model, which remains in operation, has benefited tens of thousands of patients, including foreign nationals.
After more than three weeks of intensive treatment, the patient's pneumonia improved, breathing stabilised, sedation was reduced, and the breathing tube was removed. He is now conscious, able to eat orally, and in recovery.
Medical workers tend to a child contracting Japanese encephalitis virus (Photo: VNA)
