The meeting between Vietnamese and Lao Health Ministries in Vientiane on December 2. VNA/VNS Photo

VIENTIANE — Việt Nam’s Ministry of Health remain ready to support the Lao health sector in providing medical examination and treatment for the public, as well as offering professional assistance for Lao medical staff whenever requested, said Deputy Minister Nguyễn Văn Thuấn.

Deputy Minister Thuấn held a bilateral working session with Lao Deputy Minister of Health Aphone Visathep on December 2 as joining joined the working delegation accompanying Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính to Laos for the High-Level Meeting between the two Parties and the co-chaired Forty-eighth Session of the Việt Nam – Laos Inter-governmental Committee from December 2-3.

During the meeting, both ministries reviewed a number of effective and practical healthcare co-operation activities implemented to improve public health and strengthen the healthcare systems of the two countries.

Accordingly, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding on co-operation in the health sector in January 2023, replacing the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2013 that had expired.

Based on this memorandum, both sides have concretised the commitments through activities such as exchanging high-level delegations between the two ministries for official visits combined with study and professional exchanges.

Health units under the ministries at central and local levels have proactively carried out special co-operation activities in training healthcare personnel, technology transfer, border health quarantine co-ordination, and support for medical examination and treatment.

Deputy Minister Nguyễn Văn Thuấn and his Lao counterpart Aphone Visathep. VNA/VNS Photo

Regarding human-resource training support, Việt Nam regularly implements training programmes for Lao health personnel, enhancing capacity, transferring technology, and facilitating professional exchanges for Lao staff at central and local healthcare institutions in Việt Nam through scholarships funded by the Government of Việt Nam.

Around 400 Lao students are trained each year at medical and pharmaceutical universities in Việt Nam.

In the field of disease prevention, the two sides have effectively implemented infectious disease control and the “Agreement on Border Health Quarantine” signed in 2001, and continue to strengthen co-operation, especially in border provinces between Việt Nam and Laos, to improve the capacity of health systems for early detection and rapid response to infectious diseases and public-health emergencies.

Regarding medical examination and treatment, Việt Nam receives many patients from Lao provinces each year at both central and local hospitals located along the shared border.

On the Lao side, Deputy Minister Aphone Visathep expressed deep gratitude for the significant and meaningful support provided by the Vietnamese health sector, particularly in training healthcare personnel for Laos.

Many Lao medical staff trained in Việt Nam have returned home with confidence and strong performance, especially in areas such as cardiology and nephrology, which are highly prevalent and serious healthcare challenges in Laos.

Two major Government-funded projects from Việt Nam for the Lao Government –Xiangkhouang Hospital which was inaugurated and put into operation since 2023, and Houaphanh Hospital which is scheduled for inauguration on December 4, 2025 – are historic projects of great significance that now serve as modern and high-quality health facilities in Laos.

Currently, 20 doctors from these two hospitals are undergoing training at medical education institutions in Việt Nam.

Additionally, the Lao Ministry of Health emphasised that Việt Nam has extensive experience in preventing infectious diseases, including the elimination of malaria, and hopes to work with the National Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology to eliminate malaria in border provinces.

Thuấn welcomed the positive feedback from the Lao side regarding the practical and effective co-operation between the two countries.

He stated that for Xiangkhouang and Houaphanh hospitals, the local healthcare sectors in the two provinces are always ready to provide support and favourable conditions regarding medical equipment, while strengthening training for the two provinces and sending personnel to assist and train in co-ordination with military medical forces. VNS