FREE ASSISTANCE: Doctors from Friendship Hospital in Hà Nội provide free medical check-ups during the launch of National Health Day on April 7. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Đức

By designating April 7 as National Health Day, Việt Nam is making a clear statement: the nation's future will be built not just on economic growth, but on the well-being of its people.

It marks a major strategic shift — from a treatment-first mindset to one in which prevention is the foundation, the long-term approach and the guiding principle — placing the health of more than 100 million people at the centre of all development policies.

BEING PROACTIVE: Minister of Health Đào Hồng Lan speaks at the launch of National Health Day on April 7 VNA/VNS Photo Minh Đức

Việt Nam is currently facing numerous challenges, including the rise of non-communicable diseases, population ageing, climate change, the risk of emerging epidemics, and issues of mental health and nutrition.

This year marks the first observance of National Health Day, under the theme "Proactive Disease Prevention for a Healthy Việt Nam". VNS

HEALTHY HABITS: Trịnh Văn Quyết, member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of the Central Publicity and Mass Mobilisation Commission (third right), and Minister of Health Đào Hồng Lan (centre) visit and inquire after the health of Hà Nội residents on April 5. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Đức

TAKING ON DISEASE: A medical worker examines and diagnoses a goitre in an ethnic minority woman in Ba Bể District, Thái Nguyên Province. Over the years, Việt Nam’s preventive medicine sector has achieved encouraging results, successfully controlling many dangerous emerging diseases. VNA/VNS Photo Hữu Oai

CAREFUL: A technician conducts bacterial and fungal identification tests at the National Lung Hospital. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết

MODERN MEANS: Doctors at the Cần Thơ City Cardiovascular and Stroke Hospital remotely control a robot to perform a coronary intervention on a patient in the operating room. The procedure marks a milestone for Việt Nam, making it the first country in Southeast Asia to deploy this technology for such a procedure. VNA/VNS Photo Ánh Tuyết

RANGE OF SERVICES: The National Lung Hospital in Hà Nội is equipped with modern facilities for tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment. VNA/VNS Photo Dương Ngọc

DEDICATED HELP: A domestically produced measles–rubella vaccine has been assessed as safe and effective for use in Việt Nam’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation, which has provided free vaccinations for children since 2017. VNA/VNS Photo Dương Ngọ