The number of private hospitals in Vietnam, where major state-run hospitals are always overloaded, has increased by over four-fold to 170 units to date from as few as 40 units in 2004, the Ministry of Health said. The figure includes six foreign-invested hospitals, the ministry said in a report sent to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly. Despite such an increase, these private hospitals represent just 4.2% of total hospital beds in Vietnam, according to the report.
The report also showed that there are more than 30,000 private polyclinics, 87 small-sized maternity hospitals, 30 foreign-invested clinics, and 29 clinics with involvement of foreign doctors across the country.
The country now has 249,852 people working in healthcare sector, including 64,422 doctors, 54,478 nurses, 88,019 orderlies, 15,184 technical staffs, and 219 herbalists. The overloading at state hospitals has prompted the government to encourage the involvement of the private sector in the health sector.
A deputy director of a Ho Chi Minh City-based hospital has said that public hospitals in Vietnam have many good doctors and private hospitals have very good services. He suggested the government “establish a balance between the two.” He said that Vietnam has to change its medical policies by making necessary investments to improve human resources at private hospitals and upgrade facilities at public ones.
In Vietnam, the spending on health services has kept rising steadily over the years despite economic difficulties. Of the $12 billion spent in 2013, 50% came from people’s pockets. (Ttvn.vn Apr 1)