The Oriental Traditional Medicine Association of Hanoi has built the model "High-quality Traditional Medicine Clinics in the Period 2022-2025" to provide medical examination and treatment to local people, according to Nguyen Van Dung, Vice President of the Vietnam Oriental Traditional Medicine Association.

He said that countries around the world have used traditional medicine in disease prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation, identifying traditional medicine as an important factor in ensuring the success of a proactive healthcare strategy.

Treatment of patients at the Ha Dong Traditional Medicine Hospital in Hanoi. Photo: Thien Tam

"Vietnam has a long history of traditional medicine. Before modern medicine was introduced in Vietnam, traditional medicine was the only medical system to protect people's health. Our goal is to comprehensively develop traditional medicine and pharmacy and strengthen the combination of traditional and modern medicine to protect, care for and improve people's health," Dung added.

The official stressed that Hanoi's herbal medicine industry has continuously researched and innovated to develop more effective remedies, disease prevention, and treatment methods.

"The Oriental Traditional Medicine Association of Hanoi has built traditional medicine clinics in 30 districts with more than 4,000 members across the city," Dung said, adding that these clinics have been licensed by the city's Health Department and meet basic professional standards and regulations. Many clinics have a large number of patients thanks to good professional quality.

"We would like to focus on improving the satisfaction of patients who come to the quality traditional medicine clinic for medical examination and treatment from 80 to 95%, based on the best medical examination, treatment, and quality traditional medicine products. In addition, efforts have been made to increase the number of patients by 10-15% per year, thereby reducing the burden on higher-level hospitals and saving costs for patients," Dung said.

According to Doan Thi Tuyet Mai, Head of the Department of Traditional Medicine Management under the Ministry of Health, building and developing a high-quality traditional medicine clinic model is very important in the current context.

"The model will help harness the potential strengths of traditional medicine in treating and caring for local patients. Therefore, the Oriental Traditional Medicine Association of Hanoi should complete the criteria and develop a project to expand the models throughout the city," Mai said.