Despite being a low-income country, Vietnam has gained significant
improvements in the health field. The country’s basic health indicators
(infant, under-five, and maternal mortality) continue to fall and
are comparable to those of countries with substantially higher per
capita incomes. Vietnam has strongly emphasized the importance of
equity in health with its series of pro-poor health policies, which
should result in only minimal gaps in health outcomes between the
poor and better-off. In some respects, it is believed that Vietnam has
been quite successful in achieving this goal.
Furthermore, measures to strengthen the health system continue
to be implemented. The social health insurance program now covers
nearly half of the population, and the goal is universal coverage.
Since 2002, the government has allocated a large budget each year to
the so-called Health Care Fund for the Poor, which buys health
insurance cards for the poor and selected ethnic minorities. The
near-poor are also to be subsidized to the tune of 50 percent of the
voluntary health insurance premium.