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Health policies are increasingly shifting from a treatment-focused approach to proactive disease prevention. Resolution 72-NQ/TW on breakthroughs to promote health protection, care, and improvement of people’s health, issued by the Politburo, sets development directions for the new era: prevention-first, building a health system close to people and communities, promoting smart management, and gradually reducing health-care costs. To deliver these goals, accelerating preventive work and raising community awareness from the grassroots level has become an urgent requirement.
Against this backdrop, public-private models linking enterprises with frontline health units are expanding. On 28 April, in Ho Chi Minh City, a cooperation signing ceremony took place between the Bình Đông Ward People’s Committee and units developing primary health care. Long Châu, a chain of pharmacies and vaccination centers, became a leading partner collaborating with the ward to implement community health-care activities.
The cooperation is designed to build a health-care network that starts from early, remote contact points through “first medical contact points,” aiming to ensure residents can access timely, continuous, equal, and effective services where they live.
The ceremony was attended by Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health; Mr. Vo Thanh Kha, Chairman of Bình Đông Ward; Ms. Vu Yen Oanh, Vice-Chairman of Bình Đông Ward; leadership from Nguyen Trai Hospital, the 115 Emergency Center, and the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Traditional Medicine; representatives from the Drug Crime Investigation Department (Công an TP.HCM) and ward police; and Ms. Nguyen Bach Diep, Chairwoman of FPT Retail and CEO of Long Châu Pharmacy and Vaccination Center, along with other senior officials.
Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau said the ward health post is one of the first touchpoints and plays a crucial role in residents’ health management over their lifetime. He emphasized that strengthening prevention systematically from the grassroots level can raise residents’ awareness, support early disease detection for timely treatment, reduce disease burden, save medical costs, and improve quality of life—aligning with the spirit of Resolution 72-NQ/TW.
Ms. Vu Yen Oanh said enhancing the operation of ward health posts and providing health care for residents is a key task in the ward’s action plan. She added that, alongside medical collaboration, the ward will expand cooperation with Long Châu’s pharmacies and vaccination centers and other units in community support activities, including free consultations for policy beneficiaries and people in difficult circumstances. She said mobilizing public and private resources is expected to help create a sustainable community health-care system with tangible benefits for local residents.
Ms. Nguyen Bach Diep said Long Châu will maintain long-term engagement in community health programs as part of efforts toward a healthier Vietnam.
Under the cooperation, Bình Đông Ward’s Health Post and Long Châu’s network of pharmacies and vaccination centers will expand outreach through health counseling, risk screening, and early detection at service points. Residents are expected to access quality medicines and safe, transparent services, while also receiving medical knowledge from Long Châu professionals, including guidance on routine health monitoring and when to seek care at health facilities after early signs appear.
Long Châu and Bình Đông Ward will coordinate to organize community health programs and expand access to essential health services for residents, especially policy beneficiaries and people in difficult circumstances in the area.
Long Châu has a network of more than 2,500 pharmacies and 200 vaccination centers, supported by a team of highly skilled pharmacists. The company serves more than 33 million Vietnamese citizens.
The grassroots collaboration is presented as a strategic step for Long Châu’s ecosystem in line with Politburo Resolution 72-NQ/TW and Government Resolution 282/NQ-CP. Previously, Long Châu partnered with Ho Chi Minh City Police to develop the Citizen Post model in neighborhoods, contributing to delivering digital health services and social welfare to residents through a cohesive and sustainable approach.
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