Human resources for health country profiles : Viet Nam

Overview

Viet Nam is a South-East Asian nation of about 90 million people. Viet Nam is a lower middle-income country with a gross domestic product (GDP) of about US$ 2000 per capita per year. Its health-care service and management system is organized into four administrative levels: central, provincial, district and commune.
Viet Nam has achieved some of the Millennium Development Goals such as reducing the maternal mortality ratio and infant and under-5 mortality rate. Life expectancy at birth is 70 years for men and 76 years for women. Morbidity and mortality patterns are shifting from communicable to noncommunicable diseases. Viet Nam is also cooperating effectively with the international community to control emerging diseases such as avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome and HIV/AIDS.