Associate Prof Nguyen The Anh, director of Huu Nghi Hospital, said Vietnam is entering a period of rapid population aging. It is projected that by 2036, the country will officially become an aged society. This requires an urgent need to prepare solutions to meet the growing healthcare demands of the elderly.

He noted that the average life expectancy of Vietnamese is over 74 years, among the higher levels globally. However, the major concern is the long period of living with illness, which affects overall quality of life.

“Statistics show that the elderly in Vietnam typically live with diseases for the last 5–7 years of their lives. On average, each person suffers from 4–5 different conditions. At Huu Nghi Hospital, an elderly patient may visit for check-ups 7–8 times per year, or more if hospital admissions are included. This frequency is 2–2.5 times higher than in other patient groups.

“These figures highlight the heavy disease burden among the elderly, requiring special attention from the healthcare system as well as families and communities not just to live longer, but to live healthier,” he said.

To achieve this, Vietnam needs comprehensive policies and plans to improve the quality of life for older adults. One key shift is moving from single-disease treatment to multi-disease, multidisciplinary care.

“Elderly patients often have multiple conditions at the same time, so treatment cannot be separated by disease. It requires coordination across specialties. In addition to medication, attention must also be given to nutrition, physical care, mental health, and psychosocial factors,” he emphasized.

Continuous care model

The director of Huu Nghi Hospital expressed concern that many elderly, especially in remote areas, have never undergone medical check-ups or even had their blood pressure measured. Some do not understand how to take medications properly. 

For example, they only take antihypertensive drugs when feeling unwell and then stop afterward, which can be dangerous.

“Treatment adherence is also a challenge. Without close monitoring and guidance, patients may forget or stop taking medication midway, leading to worsening conditions and higher risk of complications,” he warned.

The management of elderly health should not be confined to hospitals but needs to be carried out continuously at their place of residence through regular and proactive monitoring.

To adapt to the rapid pace of population aging, he emphasized the need to develop continuous and comprehensive care models. In this context, applying technology such as personal health monitoring software can help patients better manage their own health conditions.

Only 23% of strokes treated within ‘golden hour’

Vietnam is among the countries with a high incidence of stroke globally. Notably, most patients do not access emergency care in time. 

Only about 23.2 percent reach medical facilities within the golden window (4.5 hours), and just 20 percent are transported via professional emergency systems, a critical factor for survival and recovery.

Dr Dao Viet Phuong, Deputy Director of the Stroke Center at Bach Mai Hospital, said each minute during a stroke can result in the destruction of millions of brain cells. Meanwhile, many problems still exist: delayed symptom recognition, self-transport to hospitals instead of calling emergency services, or multiple referrals before receiving appropriate treatment.

Pre-hospital emergency systems (EMS) remain underdeveloped, while optimized models such as “drip and ship” (administering clot-dissolving drugs before transfer) or advanced neurovascular interventions are not yet widely implemented. This significantly reduces the chances of survival and recovery.

In response, Vietnam has developed a national stroke prevention and control strategy for 2025–2035, aiming to reduce incidence, mortality, and long-term disability.

Dr Phuong noted that the Stroke Center at Bach Mai Hospital, as a top-tier facility, has built an ecosystem for stroke care. It has established 10 regional stroke units in Thanh Hoa and is expanding to Quang Ninh, Lao Cai and Thai Nguyen.

In 2026, this ecosystem will extend to island and coastal areas to strengthen emergency stroke support.

One notable future trend is the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in stroke diagnosis and treatment. AI can assist doctors in analyzing brain images, detecting damage earlier and making faster, more accurate intervention decisions.

Digital platforms and stroke risk management applications are also being developed, enabling remote health monitoring, early risk warnings and proactive prevention.

In addition, personalized treatment based on individual patient data is expected to improve effectiveness, reduce complications and optimize healthcare costs.

Vo Thu