Vietnam – attractive destination for medical tourism
Hanoi, July 7 (VNA) – 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.
The Ministry of Health estimates that approximately 300,000 people from abroad visit Vietnam each year for medical examination and treatment.
Opening up prospects
On May 28, fetal intervention specialists and pediatric cardiologists from Tu Du Hospital and Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City successfully performed a complex in-utero heart intervention on the fetus of a Singaporean woman. The mother was 22 weeks pregnant, and the fetus had been diagnosed with a severe congenital heart defect. This significant achievement has garnered the attention of the regional medical community.
The success of the surgery not only demonstrates that Vietnamese doctors have mastered and successfully applied new techniques, but it also serves as an impetus to attract foreigners to Vietnam for medical examination and treatment.
Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan has sent a letter of commendation to the teams and leadership of the two hospitals. The minister noted that the successful application of the fetal heart intervention technique has opened up numerous opportunities for the development of advanced technology and specialised techniques in medical services. This achievement has also enhanced the trust in, reputation, and prestige of Vietnam's healthcare sector in the international arena.
Previously, an Australian family living in Bali, Indonesia, took their 4-year-old daughter to Vietnam for single-port laparoscopic surgery to treat choledochal cysts – a technique currently performed successfully by only two centres in the world.
After the surgery conducted at the Hanoi-based Saint Paul's Hospital, the child patient quickly recovered with a small incision, leaving no large scars, leaving the family relieved and completely satisfied with the operation.
Meanwhile, at the Viet Duc Friendship Hospital in Hanoi, a 30-year-old Vietnamese woman living in New Zealand underwent a surgery to reconstruct the perineum and anal sphincter after three failed surgeries in New Zealand. Ten days after being discharged from the hospital in good health, she and her Iranian husband expressed their absolute satisfaction with the quality of treatment and the dedication of the Vietnamese medical team.
Recently, the Colorectal-Perineal Surgery Centre of the Viet Duc Friendship Hospital has received patients who had been unsuccessfully treated in Poland, Hungary, Japan, or the UK.
Foreigners have considered making the journey to Vietnam to benefit from the country’s improved healthcare services, lower medical costs, and skilled medical staff.
Notably, Ho Chi Minh City, which attracts more than 40% of foreign visitors using medical services in Vietnam, represents great potential to develop medical tourism through strong promotion and appropriate policies.
Hospitals seize opportunities
The increasing number of foreigners coming to Vietnam for medical treatment has opened up great opportunities for medical tourism. To anticipate this trend, major hospitals have been actively training high-quality human resources, upgrading facilities, and promoting international cooperation.
Deputy Director of the HCM City Institute of Traditional Medicine Nguyen Thanh Tuyen said that the institute has been offering medical tourism for about three years. This is part of its development orientation, but the effectiveness of the medical tourism programme so far is still limited, not commensurate with the institute's potential.
Although the institute has continuously engaged in promotion programmes of the tourism department and travel companies, it has mainly taken part in surveys and introduction activities, and there have not been as many medical tourist groups as expected. The institute has mainly received individual tourists.
However, medical tourism is still a priority of the institute in the coming time, focusing on seeking a common voice with travel companies to meet the diverse needs of international tourists.
In addition, he noted, the unit aims to develop a contingent of doctors with high expertise and good foreign language skills, and to provide comprehensive support from reception to treatment.
"Tourists from different countries have different needs, depending on the disease model, the need for care, or the desire to learn about Vietnamese medicine. The institute needs to approach and apply cooperation models aligned with the specific needs of each group," said Tuyen.
A leader of a specialised hospital in HCM City also said that there remain difficulties in medical tourism development in public hospitals, with the rate of foreigners coming for treatment still low. Foreign tourists and patients tend to go to cosmetic hospitals or large private centres.
As a Grade-1 specialised hospital, the HCM City Dermatology Hospital has become a trusted destination for both domestic and foreign patients in the treatment of skin and cosmetic diseases.
Hospital Director Dr. Nguyen Thi Phan Thuy said that the hospital’s biggest advantage is its staff’ high expertise and the combination of modern medicine and advanced cosmetic technology.
The Military Central Hospital 108 also aims to promote training and strengthen research cooperation with partners in more than 40 countries and many international organisations to acquire experience, techniques, and the quintessence of global medicine. The achievements of the domestic health sector not only generate opportunities to improve the quality of life for patients but also demonstrate the sector's capacity and strong efforts in integrating into the world.
The hospital is striving to become a prestigious and friendly healthcare facility not only for Vietnamese military personnel and people but also for foreigners visiting, living, and working in Vietnam.
Vietnam has sufficient resources, capabilities
Director of the HCM City Department of Health Tang Chi Thuong said that more international tourists are coming to Vietnam for medical treatment thanks to good service quality and competitive costs. In addition to upgrading facilities, hospitals in the city are improving their professional quality to meet international standards so that international insurance companies can sign contracts, creating conditions for foreigners to come for treatment.
Dr. Vu Nam from the National Economics University, who is also former Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism Market under the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism, said that medical tourism and health tourism/wellness tourism are developing in many countries around the world.
Vietnam have enough resources and capabilities to develop both types of tourism, he opined.
Healthcare tourism activities such as hot spring bathing, spa, and meditation have become very popular. However, he added, those related to specialised medical examination and treatment still has a lot of room for development in the future.
First, Vietnam now has a modern hospital system with many meeting international standards, especially in big cities like Hanoi and HCM City.
Second, Vietnamese doctors are highly skilled, on par with those in the region and the world.
Third, in addition to Western medicine, the country also possesses traditional medicine and medicinal plants such as acupuncture or herbal therapies, boasting great potential for medical tourism.
Finally, medical costs in Vietnam are much cheaper than in other countries in the region and the world.
The tourism development strategy to 2030 also places special emphasis on developing quality, diverse, and distinctive tourism products, with priority given to health-related tourism such as medical tourism and wellness tourism, to make use of natural and cultural resources and bring into play the national identity./.
