40 Years of Health Cooperation between Sweden and Vietnam

Helping to improve health is the most direct and natural expression of human solidarity. Sweden’s first support to Vietnam in the 1960’s was medical supplies and equipment through NGOs like the Red Cross. The mutual trust that we feel for each other still today build on these early ties and strong acts of solidarity.

Vietnam soon became one of Sweden’s major partners in development cooperation, with health remaining a major cooperation area. During the last four decades, both Vietnam and Sweden have developed and changed profoundly. Sweden has become a close partner in broad based institutional development as well as policy and health strategy work.

In March 2008 the Ministry of Health hosted a National Event to celebrate 40 years of successful health cooperation between Sweden and Vietnam. The event attracted over 500 participants from provinces and hospitals all over Vietnam. Vietnamese and Swedish businesses, organisations and institutions were also invited. The event was a true recognition and joyful celebration of our health cooperation achievements in the past, but it was also an excellent opportunity to discuss current health sector challenges with an outlook to future relations between Swedish and Vietnamese partners in health.

Today’s strong key health sector outcomes in Vietnam are proof of the overall remarkable health development in Vietnam, with figures for child mortality, morbidity and nutrition comparable to countries at considerably higher levels of development. However, Vietnam still faces serious challenges in fair and equal primary health care across the country, and in making health services cost effective. The regional and ethnic differences in health care provision need to be addressed through determined and systematic efforts.

Vietnam is steadily approaching the status of a middle-income country and consequently Vietnam’s relations with Sweden and other countries will move from development cooperation to cooperation on more equal terms for mutual benefit. The first 40 years of health cooperation between Vietnam and Sweden provides a solid foundation for continued relations and cooperation between Swedish and Vietnamese partners in the health sector.

Already now we can see new forms of cooperation evolving i.e. cooperation which is not dependent on Swedish grant aid. On the commercial side one such success story is the emerging infection control cooperation between Getinge and Ministry of Health in Vietnam. A recent institutional cooperation success is the cooperation between Lund University Children’s Hospital in Sweden and National Hospital of Pediatrics in Hanoi. The aim of this cooperation, which is financially supported by the Swedish company IKEA, is to improve children’s cancer treatment and care. 

We expect to see many more forms and areas of health cooperation exploited in the future, involving organisations, authorities, companies, education institutions etc. Both Sweden and Vietnam have strong comparative advantages in health that can continue to attract cooperation and business interests, in both directions. Even if Sida can no longer finance health cooperation agreements in Vietnam, the Embassy can certainly assist Swedish and Vietnamese partners various ways – as a discussion partner and also help identify appropriate health cooperation partners in Vietnam or Sweden. In fact we encourage you to approach the Embassy with your partner cooperation ideas!