An introduction to the health system in Vietnam

After independence, the Vietnamese government made an enormous effort to construct a comprehensive health care network from the central down to the grass roots levels, however, the health situation of the population has not improved as much as was expected. The most fundamental cause is poverty, as it is in other developing countries. Because of poverty, the means to achieve a safer environment such as sanitation, safe drinking, water and adequate nutrition, is often absent. Inefficient administration due to the sectionalism among different organizations makes the situation worse.With the introduction of a market policy in 1986, privatization has been introduced into the health sector in order to address some of the inadequacies inherent in the current system. Although privatization might reduce public health expenditures by reducing utilization pressure on public facilities, it deprives the most vulnerable inhabitants of health services.