Considerable improvements have been made to healthcare in recent years. Vietnam now has a system aimed at providing universal cover for the whole population. It therefore has compulsory health insurance for employees on contracts of more than three months, and voluntary insurance for those not covered by the compulsory scheme.

Provision varies enormously from one system to another. The public sector is made up of Vietnamese practitioners who speak only the national language, and the hospitals are under-equipped by international standards and often overcrowded.

By contrast, the private sector consists mainly of doctors from the United States, Japan, South Korea and France, and the care provided is of a very high standard. To benefit from it, international health insurance is essential, as costs can be very high.