Ha Noi, 11 December 2025 - The Ministry of Health (MoH) of Viet Nam, the Korea Foundation for International Healthcare (KOFIH), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) jointly convened the 2nd Korea–Viet Nam Telehealth Workshop today in Ha Noi, bringing together nearly 70 representatives from government agencies, development partners, hospitals, provincial health departments, and digital health experts to advance Viet Nam’s telehealth and digital health policy development.

The workshop is a milestone activity under the project “Telehealth to Improve Access to Healthcare Services for Disadvantaged Groups in Viet Nam,” supported by KOFIH and implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Health and UNDP. The project aims to enhance access to high-quality healthcare for disadvantaged populations, including ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and communities in mountainous and remote areas, while contributing to Vietnam’s broader digital health transformation.

Building on the first telehealth workshop held in June 2025, today’s event focused on policy development through the sharing of Korea–Viet Nam telemedicine data practices and case studies. Key topics included telemedicine platforms, data standardization and interoperability, patient privacy and data protection, digital monitoring devices, and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. Experts from the Ministry of Health, the Viet Nam Administration of Medical Services, and Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in Korea delivered presentations.   

Prof. Dr. Tran Van Thuan, Vice Minister of Health, emphasized: “Telehealth and remote medical examination and treatment are not merely technical solutions, but an essential approach that helps realize the objectives of Resolution 72-NQ/TW by strengthening the capacity of primary healthcare, and enabling the rapid, coordinated, and sustainable transfer of knowledge and technical skills. Telehealth improves service quality right where people live, reduces the burden on higher-level hospitals, and enhances public trust in the grassroots health system. The Ministry of Health highly appreciates the close cooperation of central and provincial hospitals, as well as the valuable support from UNDP in implementing telehealth models nationwide. Many healthcare facilities have adopted remote consultations, telemedicine sessions, technical support, and online professional training, and these pilot models have demonstrated clear and tangible effectiveness.” 

In her opening remarks, Ms. Ryu Kyungnam, Country Representative of the KOFIH Viet Nam Office, expressed appreciation for the strong partnership underpinning the project’s progress. She stated: “It is a great honor to welcome all of you to the 2nd Korea–Vietnam Telehealth Workshop, the milestone activity under the Project ‘Telehealth to Improve Access to Healthcare Services for Disadvantaged Groups in Viet Nam,’ supported by KOFIH and implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Health and UNDP. Thanks to this close cooperation, the project has achieved encouraging progress. Moving forwards, KOFIH remains committed to working closely with the Ministry of Health and UNDP to expanding equitable access to healthcare and advancing digital health transformation in Vietnam, promoting a resilient, people-centered healthcare system.”

Ms. Francesca Nardini, Deputy Resident Representative of the UNDP in Viet Nam, emphasized the transformative potential of telehealth in strengthening equitable access to healthcare. She noted: “Telehealth is one of the most practical and transformative innovations shaping modern healthcare, offering scalable solutions to challenges of access, service quality, and system resilience. It plays an increasingly important role in Viet Nam’s digital transformation toward a smart and resilient health system. In many ways, it shifts the centre of healthcare from facilities to the people themselves and that is the transformation that matters most.”

Partners highlighted substantial progress under the telehealth project to date. This includes the procurement of 250 IT equipment sets for Commune Health Stations, support for two servers for the National Health Information Center, and ongoing software upgrades. Training has been completed for key staff across all project provinces, accompanied by online sessions for commune health workers. The Telehealth Guideline is under development, and implementation has begun in Ha Giang, Bac Kan, Lai Chau, and Lang Son. As of 10 December 2025, 36,355 new individualaccounts have been created for community people in nine project provinces, including 684 activated users have already been ready and used to make appointments with Doctors at Commune Health Stations.

Participants underscored that these achievements demonstrate strong cooperation among KOFIH, the Ministry of Health, provincial health departments, local health workers, and UNDP. They also emphasized that Viet Nam’s continued advancement of a safe, effective, and scalable telehealth ecosystem will benefit from Korea’s experience in digital governance, platform development, AI solutions, and system interoperability.

The workshop concluded with a shared commitment from all partners to strengthen digital health systems further and expand equitable access to quality healthcare for people across Vietnam, particularly those living in remote and disadvantaged communities.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Phan Huong Giang   
UNDP Media and Communications Analyst, Climate Change, Energy and Environment 
Email: phan.huong.giang@undp.org 
Mobile: 0948466688