Viet Nam is a South-east Asia country, sharing borders with China, Laos and Cambodia, and with a
population of over 85 million people. Since 1987 with Doi Moi (Renovation) policy, Viet Nam has
made significant achievements, including GDP increase, higher life expectancy, better health care
and education. However, together with country development, the health of Vietnamese people is
influenced by many factors, and the inequity in health in different groups of society in Viet Nam is
clear. With support from INTREC (INDEPTH Training and Research Centres of Excellence), a
situation analysis study on social determinants of health (SDH) was conducted in Viet Nam. The
aims of this study were to learn about the most important social determinants health in Viet Nam,
current SHD teaching and training, knowledge and awareness of SDH among a variety of
stakeholders, as well as to identify the gaps in training needs, and suggest recommendations for
addressing the social determinants of health.
Methods: The situation analysis is a multi-method study including (i) Country profile review; (ii)
Curricular review on ongoing social determinants of health-related training courses in Viet Nam
and the training gaps that INTREC can fill; (iii) Literature review on the core social determinants of
health, the main actors in the country and the relevant SDH policies and; (iv) Interviews with
leaders and policy makers from different sectors in Vietnam, including the health sector. Based on
the specific objectives of each part, different methods were applied to gather and to analyze
information. Internet search, telephone conversations, face-to-face discussions, and semistructured
interviews with open-ended questions were applied as methods for this situation
analysis.
Results: Results part of this report presents extensive findings from different parts of the situation
analysis study.
The country profile review reveals that while Viet Nam’s health indices have improved
substantially in recent years, the country is now facing a host of relatively new health problems,
including rising incidences of non-communicable or lifestyle-related diseases, and an escalating
HIV/AIDS epidemic. Data for four main non-communicable-diseases (NCDs) suggest that the
prevalence of certain NCDs, such as diabetes and CVD is high. Decline in death rates from
communicable diseases, together with population aging, leads to a higher incidence and
prevalence of NCDs. Tobacco, alcohol, physical activity and nutrition were cited as risk factors for
NCDs.