The lessons learned from Vietnam, a country that the world acclaimed for its management of the fight against COVID-19, could stand out as an example of how to do more with less. The Vietnamese government has acted swiftly at the very early stage of the pandemic with a focus on containment efforts and extensive public health measures, particularly (1) the commitment from the government with a multisectoral approach; (2) a timely, accurate, and transparent risk communication; (3) active surveillance and intensive isolation/quarantine operation, case management with tracing all new arrivals and close contact up to three clusters; and (4) suspension of flights, shutting schools, and all nonessential services.

This study explored the impact of COVID-19 on migrant workers in Vietnam, using a cumulative risk assessment (CRA) framework which comprises four domains (workplace, environment, individual and community). A cross-sectional study was conducted. Data were collected in 2020 through a self-administered questionnaire with 445 domestic migrant workers in two industrial zones in two northern provinces (Bac Ninh and Ninh Binh) in Vietnam. The majority of migrant workers were female (65.2%), aged between 18 and 29 years old (66.8%), and had high school or higher education level qualifications. Most migrant workers had good knowledge about preventive measures (>90%) and correct practices on COVID-19 prevention (81.1%). Three health risk behaviors were reported: 10% of participants smoked, 25% consumed alcohol and 23.1% were engaged in online gaming. In terms of workplace, occupational working conditions were good. Noise was the most commonly reported hazard (29%). Regarding environment, about two-thirds of migrant workers lived in a small house (<36 m²). Most participants (80.4%) lived with their families. About community domain, many reported low salary or losing their job during January–July, 2020. Most migrants received information about COVID-19. The migrant workers suffered from poor health and low occupational safety, fear of job loss and income cut, poor housing and living conditions and limited access to public services. The holistic approach to address stressors is recommended to improve health and safety of migrant workers.

This paper aims to describe a trend in coverage of maternal care services, and provides a detailed analysis of socio-economic correlations to the existing inequities. The paper uses data from the Vietnam Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2000, 2006, 2011, and 2014. In the MICS, there were 9,117 women in 2000, 9,473 women in 2006, 11,614 women in 2011, and 9,827 women in 2014 participated in. We found the coverage of antenatal care increase from 68.6% in 2000 to 95.9% in 2014. Similarly, the percentages of women who gave birth with the assistance of skilled staff increased during the studied period ( from 69.9% in 2000, 87.7% to 94.5% in 2014). However, improvements in antenatal care and skilled birth attendance in Vietnam have been uneven across different segments of the population. In all the four surveys, the proportions of women who received ANC by a skilled staff and percentages of women who gave birth with the assistance of a skilled health personnel were much higher among those with higher education, belonged to Kinh majority tribe, had better economic status, and lived in an urban area. The degrees of inequity in both antenatal and delivery care in Vietnam are likely to increase over time.

Long-term caregiving can lead to a high caregiver burden for caregivers of community-dwelling people with dementia in Asia's low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It is essential to assess the level of caregiver burden and its factors in such settings to understand the impact on caregivers' well-being. A systematic review was conducted based on the PRISMA. Articles were identified from seven databases published from 2000 to November 2023. Each article's methodological quality was assessed with an appraisal checklist developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. 64 studies with 12 measurement tools were identified from 9 countries. Only 20% of studies using 22-item ZBI show caregivers experienced no or little burden while caring for their care recipients. The mean 22-item ZBI score ranged from 24.5 in Turkey to 34.7 in India, while the mean CBI score varied from 24.0 in Thailand to 47.8 in China. Patient, caregiver characteristics, and caregiving context are associated with caregiver burden. Dementia caregivers in Asian LMICs exhibit a wide variation in caregiver burden. Programs that promote protective factors and address modifiable factors are imperative to mitigate burdens and enhance caregivers' quality of life in these settings.

The current study aimed to examine the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and to identify its related factors amongst adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This cross-sectional study recruited randomly 519 patients diagnosed with T2DM for at least 6 months in the Family medicine center (FMC) of Agricultural General Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Short Form 36 (SF-36) health survey was used to measure their HRQoL. The female patients had lower physical and mental scores than the male patients. Patients with older age, comorbidity, and insulin treatment were more likely to have lower HRQoL. Meanwhile, educational attainment and having frequent exercise were positively associated with HRQoL.

This cross-sectional study was to identify the prevalence of depression using PHQ-9 scale and perceived barriers to accessing psychological services among the elderly people in a rural district in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2019. More than one-fourth of rural elderly were at high risk of depression (26.1%). Factors related to depression in the elderly were shown statistically significant (p < .05) including personal factors such as gender, education level, participating in social activities, the medical examination in the past 12 months, and family factors such as household economic status, living conditions, and social factors were perceived social support and barriers on accessing mental health services for the elderly. This suggested the importance of routine depression screenings for elderly, and of improving their accessibility to the psychological services.