Arriving at Cho Ray Hospital at 7 am, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tuyen from Tan Phu district, HCMC, and her mother N.T.P, 69, had to wait until nearly noon recently to complete the process of endocrine and heart failure examination. P is a familiar patient at the hospital.

P said about 30 years ago she began living with high blood pressure and diabetes. One year ago, she had to be hospitalized in an emergency case because of shortness of breath. The doctor said she suffered from heart failure Level 3.

Tuyen said since the day her mother was informed about heart failure, P has become cautious with meals. She only eats boiled and steamed food and has her blood pressure measured every day.

Nguyen Thi Ha, 50, in Dong Nai province, never misses periodic follow-up examination appointments at Le Van Thinh Hospital. Four months ago, she felt dizzy and unconscious after eating some longan. Doctors said she had diabetes type 2, essential hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia.

Reports show that a high number of Vietnamese elderly have to ‘live together with drugs’ because of chronic diseases they contract. As a result, they go to hospital every month or every week.

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), Vietnamese life expectancy has increased from 73.3 to 73.7 years. However, the quality of life is not high because of disease.

Meanwhile, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), among Southeast Asian countries, the life expectancy of Vietnamese men is the fifth highest, while the life expectancy of Vietnamese women is second. However, everyone lives with diseases for 10 years on average, higher than in previous reports.

MOH pointed out that one of the reasons behind the problem is the unreasonable nutrition regime which leads to limited physical development and stature of Vietnamese, as well as the increase in non-communicable diseases related to nutrition.

Other reports confirmed that the burden of non-communicable diseases in Vietnam is getting increasingly serious, accounting for two-thirds of total burdens of diseases and deaths nationwide. This is also the top cause of death in Vietnam.

In 2021, a national survey on the factors related to non-communicable diseases conducted by MOH found that 20.8 percent of population aged 15 and higher smoke cigarettes, nearly two-thirds of men and one-tenth of women drink liquor and beer, and 59 percent of population have less vegetables and fruits in their meals than recommended.

Lung cancer is one of the most commonly seen cancers. In Vietnam in 2020, lung cancer was the cause of nearly 24,000 new cancer cases (accounting for 14.4 percent) and more than 20,000 deaths (18 percent) annually, the second highest proportion, just after liver cancer.

The majority of lung cancer cases are related to smoking; about 10 percent have never smoked.

More than 78 percent of people often or regularly add salt, fish sauce and salty spices during cooking or while eating. On average, an adult person consumes 8.1 grams of salt each day.

Meanwhile, the level of physical activity remains low with nearly one-fourth of population lacking physical activity (the physical activity level is lower than that recommended by WHO). In addition, 19.5 percent of Vietnamese people are overweight and 2.1 percent of them are obese.

MOH reported that about 15.3 percent of the population aged 40-69 are at high risk of suffering cardiovascular events such as stroke and myocardial infarction in the next 10 years. Only 40.8 percent of them get advices and use medicine to prevent the diseases.

The ministry cited other reasons, including the living environment, people’s awareness, lack of medical workers and limited budget for preventive medicine.

Linh Trang