After nearly 15 years of almost "freezing", the allowances for medical staff have finally been adjusted according to Decree 192/2026/ND-CP, with an increase of nearly 185%. For many people, it is simply a new policy. But for those in white coats, this is like a response to years of silently shouldering professional pressure.
For more than a decade, many things have changed. Prices have increased, living costs have increased, medical examination and treatment pressure has increased, and epidemics have passed, leaving imprints that cannot be erased. Only many allowances of the medical industry are almost still standing still at the milestone of 2011.
This adjustment is more meaningful than material value. On-duty allowances at special and first-class hospitals increased from 115,000 VND to 325,000 VND per shift. Epidemic prevention allowances for group A infectious diseases were increased to 420,000 VND per day. Surgery allowances - a job requiring high professional qualifications, great pressure and heavy responsibility - were also doubled.
Those amounts of money certainly cannot turn the medical profession into a profession with attractive income. But at least, they send a message that specialized labor has special policies. This policy is not only aimed at upper-level hospitals but also extends to grassroots health forces. Village health workers, residential groups, and village midwives - who are still likened to "gatekeepers" of the health care system - are also supported. These are the first links to reach people, but also the most disadvantaged forces in terms of regime in recent years.
The health sector not only needs to increase allowances once after nearly 15 years of waiting, but also needs a flexible mechanism to keep policies up to date with reality. If incentives are slow to innovate, talented people will leave, those who remain will become more exhausted, and in the end, patients and the public health system will have to bear it.
Keeping doctors with the profession has never been just income. It is also the feeling that silent contributions, sacrifices behind each shift and responsibility to human lives are recognized by society, respected by the State and expressed by timely and fair policies. With the medical profession, that recognition is sometimes as precious as a spiritual medicine, adding motivation for those wearing white coats to firmly step into the next shift.
