Nghị quyết 72-NQ/TW năm 2025 về giải pháp đột phá, tăng cường bảo vệ, chăm sóc và nâng cao sức khỏe Nhân dân do Ban Chấp hành Trung ương ban hành

RESOLUTION

OF THE POLITBURO

ON SOME BREAKTHROUGH SOLUTIONS TO STRENGTHEN THE PROTECTION, CARE AND IMPROVEMENT OF PEOPLE'S HEALTH

Protecting, caring for, and improving the People’s health have always been a special concern of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the State. Many issued policies and guidelines focus on implementation, achieving important accomplishments. Vietnam is highly regarded internationally for its implementation of the United Nations' sustainable development goals on health. Vietnam's essential health service coverage index is higher than the regional average. Many universal health indexes outperform those of countries with similar levels of development.

However, there are still limitations, inadequacies, difficulties, and challenges in protecting, caring for, and improving People’s health. Environmental protection, regular health exercise, and assurance of food safety and nutrition have not been adequately prioritized. Preventive healthcare has not received sufficient investment and does not fully satisfy the requirements for epidemic and disease prevention and control; the capacity for production and supply of medicines, medical supplies, and equipment is limited and dependent on imports; manpower mobilization remains passive, especially in large-scale epidemic situations. Grassroots healthcare has not fully provided comprehensive basic health care services; early screening for disease detection has not been widely implemented, failing to build patient trust, which leads to overburdening of higher-level medical facilities even for common illnesses. The quality of medical services and access to such services vary significantly between professional levels, regions, and administrative divisions. Healthcare for vulnerable groups has not received adequate attention.  Healthcare workforces in some administrative divisions and at the grassroots level do not satisfy quantity, qualification, and quality requirements; there are no appropriate special employee benefits. The potential and strengths of traditional medicine have not been fully promoted. Scientific research, application of technology, and digital transformation in healthcare are still slow. Mechanisms, policies, and employee benefits are not attractive enough to mobilize resources for healthcare development. Some cases of violations, abuse, and profiteering in medical examination and treatment, pharmaceuticals, and food have caused public concern and social unrest.

Given the urgent practical demands, the work of protecting, caring for, and improving People’s health needs a profound change in awareness and action; at the same time, it requires comprehensive innovation with breakthrough solutions aimed at developing a healthy Vietnam, where all people are cared for, live long, live well, live healthily, improve physical fitness, increase awareness of health protection, and actively prevent diseases throughout society. This is an important element in promoting the development of a prosperous, civilized, and strong country in the new era.

Facing the situation stated above, the Politburo requests for thorough understanding and focused implementation of the following contents:

I- GUIDING PRINCIPLES

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2. The people are the central subjects and are given the highest priority in formulating and implementing policies to strengthen the protection, care, and improvement of physical health, mental health, stature, longevity, and healthy life years for comprehensive development. The people must have full, fair, and equal access to medical services, with special attention to children, the poor, social policy beneficiaries, and gender equality ensured. Awareness of disease prevention, healthy lifestyles, and building a health culture among the people must be promoted

3. Focus on training and developing a quality healthcare workforce that is balanced, sufficiently qualified and ethical, capable of meeting the requirements and tasks, and satisfying the people’s expectations; implement preferential policies and special employee benefits throughout the entire process from training, recruitment, and employment to maximizing the capacity and strengths of healthcare workforce.

4. Strongly shift from a treatment-focused mindset to mindset of proactive disease prevention, emphasizing comprehensive, continuous health protection, care, and improvement throughout the life cycle. Correctly determine the position and role of preventive medicine, grassroots healthcare, and traditional medicine; focus on developing, completing, and improving the capacity of preventive healthcare and the grassroots healthcare system to ensure early, remote, and grassroots disease prevention; be ready to respond to public health emergencies; prioritize the synchronous development and investment in human resources, infrastructure, and equipment for commune-level health stations to meet requirements and tasks. Comprehensively improve the quality of healthcare services, develop specialized healthcare and ensure health security.

5. Have breakthrough policies and mechanisms to mobilize and effectively use all resources to improve the quality of protecting, caring for, and improving people’s health; strongly promote the development of science, technology, and digital transformation in healthcare; vigorously reform healthcare financing to ensure the efficiency and sustainability of health insurance policies; continue implementing state budget and health insurance guidelines to ensure coverage and payment for basic medical services, with users paying for the excess portion.

II- OBJECTIVES

1. Objectives by 2030

- Improve the physical strength, intellectual capacity, stature, and healthy life expectancy of the People. By 2030, increase the average height of children and adolescents aged 1 to 18 by at least 1,5 cm; average life expectancy to 75,5 years, with healthy life years of at least 68 years.

- Reduce the burden of diseases and control health risk factors. Vaccination coverage for vaccines in the Essential Program on Immunization exceeds 95%. The percentage of people regularly participating in physical activities increases by 10%. Intensify control of health risk factors such as alcohol, tobacco, and environmental pollutants in soil, water, and air, etc.

- Ensure people’s access to quality healthcare services, aiming at comprehensive health care. From 2026, people will receive free annual periodic health examinations or screenings at least once a year, have electronic health records to manage health across their life cycle, and progressively reduce medical costs. By 2030, citizens will be exempt from basic hospital fees within the scope of health insurance benefits according to the roadmap.

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- Achieve health coverage of over 95% of the population by 2026, and universal health coverage by 2030; develop various health insurance models.

2. Orientation toward 2045

Strive for a high-quality living environment; people’s health indexes and essential health service coverage index on par with developed countries in the region and globally. The average life expectancy will exceed 80 years, with healthy life years increasing to over 71 years; the stature, physical strength, and average height of youth will be comparable to countries with similar development levels. The health system will be modern, equitable, efficient, and sustainable, prioritizing disease prevention and meeting the increasingly diverse and high demands of the people’s health care.

III- TASKS AND SOLUTIONS

1. Strongly innovate thinking and actions in leadership, instruction, and organization of protection, care, and improvement of people’s health

CPV committees at all levels, CPV organizations, cadres, and Party members must thoroughly grasp and deeply understand the particularly important role of protection, care, and improvement of people’s health, which is a focal point of socio-economic policies. Health protection and care targets should be integrated and prioritized in socio-economic development strategies, planning, plans, and policies.

Raise awareness, habits, lifestyles, and the sense of responsibility of every citizen and the whole society in proactively exercising, protecting, and improving health. Promote the mass movement in actively caring for their health and build a health culture among the people. Officially designate the World Health Day on April 7 every year as the “Universal Health Day”.

Proactively prevent and strictly control health risk factors to create a healthy living environment. Minimize consumption of products harmful to health, especially tobacco, alcohol, addictive substances, and other health-damaging agents. Pay special attention to mental health care by creating balanced living, working, and learning environments that reduce stress and pressure. Focus on planning, investing in, building, and improving the efficiency of cultural, sports, and public facilities, as well as public spaces for health exercise for the People. Uniformly implement solutions to ensure traffic order and safety, occupational hygiene and safety, fire prevention and fighting, accident and injury prevention, and domestic violence prevention. Build safe and healthy community, school, and workplace models.

Effectively implement national target programs and strategies to enhance the intellectual capacity, physical strength, stature, and life expectancy of Vietnamese people; the National Nutrition Strategy; and the School Health Care Program. Nutrition in disease prevention must be emphasized throughout the lifecycle, tailored to each age group, developmental stage, and health condition, ensuring balanced portions, nutritional composition, meal quality, and suitability with the physique, culture, and economic conditions of Vietnamese people.

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Strongly innovate the governance mindset of the health sector, creating a transparent management environment with accountability linked to administrative reform, delegation of power and devolution of power in a thorough manner. Clearly define responsibilities of different levels, central authorities, local authorities, state regulatory authorities, and health units and facilities; prevent and combat abuse, profiteering, and violations against regulations one protection, care, and improvement of people’s health.

2. Promptly improve the institution, focus on improving the capacity of the healthcare system, especially preventive medicine, grassroots healthcare, and promote the strengths of traditional medicine

Complete and synchronize the institution and effectively implement regulations on protecting, caring for, and improving People’s health during the 2026–2030 period. Focus on perfecting and promulgating laws on Population, Disease Prevention, Food Safety, Medical Devices, Traditional Medicine, etc., ensuring timely resolution of difficulties to satisfy practical requirements.

Simplify the healthcare system to be efficient and suitable for the three-level government model, ensuring connection and timely assistance among the different professional levels of the healthcare system. Continue the arranging, transferring some hospitals managed by the Ministry of Health to provincial management; the Ministry of Health will retain management of several specialized, high-tech, leading hospitals to carry out professional guidance tasks, train high-quality workforce, scientific research, technology transfer, coordination of epidemic prevention and control, public health emergencies, natural disasters, and health security.

Improve the capacity of the preventive healthcare system in a modern direction, capable of effective supervision, early warning, timely epidemic containment, and proactive implementation of epidemic prevention and control activities. Intensify execution of the Expanded Program on Immunization in terms of coverage and target groups. Implement health management and care across the life cycle. Encourage people to proactively access counseling services, premarital health examinations, prenatal and newborn screenings, and screening for common and dangerous diseases appropriate to each age group and target population. Improve the capacity of systems for testing, inspection, and control of factors affecting health and quality of living, learning, and working environments, as well as the quality of medicines, cosmetics, food, medical devices, and healthcare services.

Improve the quality and effectiveness of grassroots healthcare. Focus on perfecting the functions, tasks, and organizational structure of commune-level health stations following the model of public service providers, ensuring the provision of essential and basic services in disease prevention, grassroots healthcare, medical examination and treatment, and social care services. Consolidate and uniformly improve the capacity of the workforce of commune-level health stations, ensuring adequate numbers of doctors by functions and tasks; maintain the health workforce in villages, residential groups, village midwives, and population collaborators by functions and tasks; and ensure basic facilities, medicines, and medical devices, especially in remote, disadvantaged, border, and island areas. During 2025–2030, administrative divisions will annually rotate, reassign, and mobilize at least 1.000 doctors to work for a fixed term at commune-level health stations; add full-time doctors at commune-level health stations to ensure sufficient numbers by 2030. Each commune-level health station will be equipped with sufficient basic medical devices as prescribed. Implement healthcare based on family medicine principles, intensify connections and assistance among professional technical levels in the healthcare system, focusing on assisting commune-level health stations. Regional health centers will be organized according to the healthcare needs of the local People, provide full and timely basic services for disease prevention, medical examination, inpatient and outpatient treatment. Prioritize investment in developing health facilities in remote, mountainous, ethnic minority, disadvantaged areas, and areas with limit access to healthcare services.

Develop specialized healthcare to meet practical and international integration demands. Promote connection between hospitals, research institutes, training institutions, and enterprises to develop advanced and specialized medical technology; focus on developing some high-quality specialized health centers on par with those at the region and worldwide to attract and develop medical tourism in Vietnam, reducing the need for citizens to seek treatment abroad. Each province/city should have at least one hospital meeting specialized-level standards; have one geriatric hospital or one general hospital with a geriatric specialty. Develop elderly care facilities. Continue improving the rehabilitation service system; effectively combine health facilities with elderly care institutions.

Intensify the integration of military and civilian medicine and police health services to promptly respond to emergencies regarding public health and people’s healthcare in remote, mountainous, ethnic minority, and disadvantaged areas. Build and deploy a nationwide pre-hospital emergency system with effective cooperation among healthcare forces, police, military, and related sectors to ensure people have quick and timely access to emergency services on site.

Promote the potential and strengths of traditional medicine. Intensify state management and improve the capacity of the traditional medicine system. Integrate traditional medicine with modern medicine in training human resources, disease prevention, medical examination and treatment. Promote the popularization of traditional medicine knowledge and techniques to the community. Have mechanism to promote potentials of herbal ingredients and intensify planning and development of standard herbal plant cultivation regions. Preserve traditional knowledge and promote the multifunctional value of herbal ingredients, traditional remedies, and methods.  Focus on improving the quality of traditional medicine, especially traditional medicines and herbal ingredients, to reach levels comparable to countries with developed traditional medicine systems

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Comprehensively innovate the style, spirit, and attitude of serving the people and patients, closely linked with improving the professional capacity of the health workforce, fulfilling President Ho Chi Minh’s aspiration "Lương y phải như từ mẫu"("A good physician is like a loving and caring mother"). Medical practitioners and health workers must strive to master medical theory, excel in medical skills, possess abundant medical ethics, and be dedicated to their profession, worthy of society’s trust and recognition. Review and complete regulations on professional ethical standards for health workers; innovate and intensify education on medical ethics and knowledge of the law on healthcare-related training; regularly provide refresher training, raise self-study and self-practice awareness, cultivate medical ethics, codes of conduct, communication skills, and patient counseling. Improve the working environment, ensure safety, and reduce pressure on health workers; reform management methods in health service delivery by output quality to satisfy both patients and health workers. Disseminate and launch emulation movements, build, commend, reward and make widespread exemplary models of medical ethics; raise responsibility and labor discipline; decisively rectify and overcome misconducts in health facilities; strictly and promptly handle acts of assault against health workers. Intensify prevention and control of corruption, misconduct, and wastefulness in the health sector

Develop a synchronized health workforce in terms of quantity, quality, and structure, especially workforce serving grassroots healthcare, preventive healthcare, remote areas, disadvantaged areas, extremely disadvantaged areas, border checkpoints, and islands. Decisively and effectively implement the Scheme for training and fostering training for doctors for commune-level health stations, particularly for communes in remote, disadvantaged, border, and island areas. Prioritize allocation and mobilization of resources, with better mechanisms and policies to develop health workforce. Focus on investing in the development of several high-quality health training institutions on par with regional standards. Implement specialized postgraduate training under the national education system in the health sector managed by the Ministry of Health.

Implement preferential policies consistent with the viewpoint that the medical profession is special and must be specially trained, utilized, and treated. Doctors, preventive medicine doctors, and pharmacists are entitled to salary ranking from level 2 of the professional title upon recruitment. Implement special, better preferential policies for health workers directly performing medical tasks at commune-level health stations and preventive health facilities; increase the preferential allowance to a minimum of 70% for those regularly and directly performing medical tasks at commune-level health stations and preventive health facilities; 100% for those working in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, areas with disadvantaged and especially disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions, border checkpoints, islands, and people working in psychiatry, forensic medicine, forensic psychiatry, emergency resuscitation, pathology, and other specific subjects appropriate to socioeconomic conditions.

Intensify international cooperation and integration in research, application, transfer of technology, science, human resource training in health, and exchange and promote strengths and potential of health sector in Vietnam. Prioritize attracting foreign investment, high-quality intellectuals, and experts in health sector from abroad to invest and work in Vietnam; send excellent students and health workers for advanced training in countries with strengths in such sector, funded by scholarship programs.

4. Promote health finance reform and effectively and sustainably develop health insurance policies

The state budget shall cover expenditures to meet the fundamental and essential requirements of protection, care, and improvement of people’s health, playing a leading role in financing, investing in infrastructure and medical equipment and devices for grassroots healthcare, preventive healthcare, healthcare for social policy beneficiaries, specific subjects in ethnic minority, mountainous, areas with disadvantaged and especially disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions, border checkpoints, islands, people working in psychiatry, forensic medicine, forensic psychiatry, emergency resuscitation, pathology, and some specific subjects.

Prioritize allocation and ensure annual state budget increase for healthcare for people in line with requirements and tasks. The state budget shall cover recurrent and investment expenditures for grassroots healthcare and preventive healthcare. Develop suitable financial mechanisms for mobilizing all social resources to invest in public health services.

Implement annual periodic health checkups or free screenings for people at least once a year by subjects and prioritized roadmap. From 2026, coordinate periodic health checkups, free screenings, and health checks for students, occupational health examinations, and health checks for workers as prescribed, and provide healthcare service covered by health insurance to provide free medical examinations and complete the establishment of electronic health records for the entire population. Provide suitable policies to subsidize out-of-hospital emergency transport costs for certain social policy beneficiaries.

Gradually implement hospital fee exemptions, starting with social policy beneficiaries, vulnerable groups, low-income people, and other prioritized groups within health insurance benefit scope according to the roadmap. From 2026, gradually increase the rate and amount of payments, expenditures for prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of certain diseases and prioritized groups specified in the road map of the Health Insurance Fund to reduce financial burdens on patients, aligned with the increase in health insurance premium rates as prescribed by law from 2027. The state budget and Health Insurance Fund shall pay for certain preventive services, chronic disease management, periodic health checkups, and screening examination upon professional requirement at the initial healthcare levels, or basic requirement according to appropriate roadmaps.

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Proactively organize forces, establish mechanisms of cooperation, and deployment of health workforce, ensuring vaccines, reserves of medicines, supplies, and medical equipment and devices to promptly meet demands for epidemic prevention and control, health emergencies, and ensuring health security.

5. Make breakthrough development in science, technology, innovation, and comprehensive digital transformation in healthcare

Strongly promote comprehensive digital transformation in health sector. Complete the development of health databases that satisfy standards for connection, sharing, and synchronous communication. Efficiently operate electronic health records, electronic medical records, and electronic prescriptions; synchronize and manage citizens’ health data throughout their lifecycle. Implement initiatives to enhance digital health literacy. Intensify inspection and prevention of misinformation, ensuring people have the necessary healthcare knowledge and skills. Urgently develop the national health database and an interlined data system for health and health insurance sector. Develop mechanisms for effective data sharing, operation, and use while ensuring security and safety. Establish supporting mechanisms to effectively attract information technology and digital transformation human resources in the health sector.

Prioritize investment to implement breakthrough solutions for the development of science, technology, and innovation in health sector following Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW dated December 22, 2024, of the Politburo. Promote the application of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT) in health sector to improve the transparency and efficiency in providing and using healthcare services. Establish intersectoral research centers specializing in scientific research that also function as academies - institutes, improve the capacity of research, testing, high-tech centers, key laboratories and scientific research facilities in the health, especially nanotechnology, gene technology, regenerative medicine, nuclear medicine...

Focus on developing the pharmaceutical industry and medical equipment and devices, ensuring autonomy in vaccines, medicines, and medical equipment and devices. Diversify sources of ingredients and equipment and devices, take advantage of domestic materials and resources, improve capacity, and promote research and transfer of technology for producing drugs, biologicals, drug ingredients, medical equipment and devices, and vaccines. Establish a pharmaceutical industrial park in 2030. Give the highest priority to the health sector in the use of the National Science and Technology Development Fund, focusing on research and production of new drugs, high-tech drugs, standardized drugs from medicinal materials, modern formulations, vaccines, and biologicals for disease prevention and treatment. Research and develop centers for vaccine production using new technology to help prevent tropical diseases and emerging and re-emerging diseases.

6. Promote private healthcare development and efficiently mobilize and use all resources for healthcare development

Implement synchronous and effective solutions specified in Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW dated May 4, 2025, of the Politburo to strongly promote participation from private sectors and mobilize social resources in people’s healthcare, especially investment and development of high-quality healthcare services, preventive services, scientific research, health workforce training, production of drugs, vaccines, medical equipment and devices, inspection, testing, and quality control. Especially encourage the development of large-scale private hospitals with advanced technical expertise comparable to developed countries; healthcare facilities in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, areas with disadvantaged and especially disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions, border checkpoints, islands; facilities for care for the elderly, disabled persons, and children; participation in epidemic prevention and control and health security, etc. Develop breakthrough mechanisms to unlock, mobilize, and effectively use all social resources for programs that improve the physical fitness, intelligence, and stature of Vietnamese people

Encourage and enable private investment activities and public-private partnerships in health sector in accordance with law. Prioritize allocation of clean land bank and repossessed land from projects, allow flexible land repurposing for healthcare purposes; focus on site clearance and clean land allocation for projects to build and develop healthcare facilities. Exempt land use levy, reduce land rent and land taxes for domestic health facilities. Exempt corporate income tax for public and private healthcare facilities operating on a non-profit basis. Prioritize allocating surplus government offices after arrangement for health facilities; allow state-owned works leasing for private health facilities as prescribed. Intensify inspection and supervision to prevent policy abuse, wastefulness, inefficiently use, and loss of resources; and strictly handle violations.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION

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2. The CPV Committee of the Government shall take charge and direct the development of plans to implement the Resolution; cooperation with the CPV Committee of the National Assembly to fully institutionalize the guidance and policies stated in this Resolution; prioritize the allocation of sufficient resources for implementation; if necessary, submit to the National Assembly for issuance of resolutions on mechanisms and policies to effectively implement the Resolution; organize, direct, and assign tasks related to reporting, assessing the situation, progress, and results of the implementation of the Resolution within jurisdiction.

3. The CPV Committee of the Fatherland Front and Central mass organizations shall take charge and direct the development of programs and plans to guide and encourage the people to implement the Resolution; promote the roles of social supervision and criticism; participate in the development of laws, mechanisms, and policies on breakthrough solutions in protecting, caring for, and improving the health of the People.

4. The Central Military Commission of the CPV and the Central Public Security CPV Committee shall cooperate with the CPV Committee of the Ministry of Health in developing programs to implement the Resolution in protecting, caring for, and improving the health of officers, soldiers, the people, and subjects under their management.

5. Provincial CPV Committees, city-level Party Committees, and Central CPV Committees shall organize education and dissemination of regulations in the Resolution among cadres and Party members; develop programs and plans to implement the Resolution. Local CPV Committees and governments shall direct, urge, inspect, and supervise the implementation of tasks and solutions within their areas as prescribed.

6. Central Committee for Dissemination and Mobilization shall take charge and cooperate with relevant agencies in formulating plans for dissemination of the implementation of this Resolution.

7. The CPV Committee of the Government shall take charge and cooperate with the Central Policy and Strategy Committee, the CPV Central Committee Office, centrally affiliated CPV Committees, and provincial and city-level CPV Committees in monitoring and assessing the implementation results of the Resolution and submitting reports to the Politburo.

This Resolution shall be disseminated to all Party cells.

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