Da Nang City People's Committee has just issued an official dispatch on organizing periodic health check-ups and screening for people according to Directive 17 of the Prime Minister.
Before Da Nang, some localities have proactively implemented or developed plans for periodic health check-ups and free screenings for people in the spirit of Resolution 72-NQ/TW and Directive 17 of the Prime Minister such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Dong Nai...
Recently, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra has just signed and issued Directive No. 17/CT-TTg dated May 6, 2026 of the Prime Minister on organizing periodic health check-ups or free screening for people.
Accordingly, by the end of 2026 and the following years, the entire population will have periodic health check-ups or free screenings and will be issued an electronic health record.
For a long time, a fairly common reality in Vietnam has been that people only go to the hospital when their bodies have sent out signals too late. Many people are diagnosed with cancer when they are in the late stages. Many workers only know they have been sick for many years when they have had strokes, heart failure, diabetes complications...
Another paradox, which has existed for a long time, is that we talk a lot about universal health care, but have not yet created a habit of periodic health check-ups in the community.
For many people, especially low-income workers, the elderly, and people in difficult areas, going for periodic check-ups is still considered a "luxury" and unnecessary.
Therefore, the fact that Da Nang and many localities are implementing free health check-ups in the spirit of Resolution 72 is both meaningful in supporting medical examination costs for people and helping to bring people closer to the preventive health system.
Many developed countries have followed this direction for a long time. They consider preventive medicine to be the foundation of social security, not the appendix behind the hospital.
However, it must also be admitted that the policy of periodic health check-ups and free screening for people will be very resource-consuming.
Free examinations for millions of people each year not only require money, but also sufficient doctors, nurses, equipment, interconnected medical data and very large management capacity at the grassroots level.
If not done carefully, it is very easy to have an exam for show. People come for examination but are only measured blood pressure, weight, listened to their heart and lungs for a few minutes... and then the process ends.
Detecting the disease but without a monitoring and subsequent treatment system, people's health records, even if they are made, will still remain on paper. And this is something to avoid.
The success rate of the policy of periodic health check-ups and annual free screening for people cannot be assessed by the number of people examined, but by the number of diseases detected early, the number of people undergoing long-term health management and the level of change in community awareness.
To do this, the policy of periodic health check-ups and annual free screening for people is a great opportunity for Vietnam to gradually shift to a more proactive healthcare system, so that people no longer have to go for medical examination and treatment in the situation of "losing the cow to build the barn".
