Nearly 1.5 million people in Ho Chi Minh City have received free health checks

On August 3, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Tang Chi Thuong said that nearly 1.5 million people had received health checks as of the morning of the same day. Last week alone, the number of participants in the second week exceeded 300,000.

According to Mr. Thuong, the program currently not only focuses on increasing the number of people examined but has shifted to completing electronic health records for each person. This data will help the health sector monitor long-term health, stratify risks and detect diseases early.

After more than two months of implementation, the speed of health checks has increased rapidly. The first weeks only recorded about 24,000-65,000 examinations per week, then from mid-July, the number of people examined continuously exceeded 150,000 and then 240,000 people, peaking at more than 329,000 people in the week of July 20-26 and continuing to maintain over 300,000 people in the following week.

In parallel with community health check-ups, the health sector also updates the results of periodic health check-ups of workers on the Community Health Management Platform. Currently, data of nearly 189,000 workers, equivalent to about 3% of the entire city’s workforce, has been uploaded to the system. This number is expected to continue to increase when businesses and medical facilities complete the transfer of examination data this year.

Last week, Dong Thanh commune, Tang Nhon Phu ward, Long Hai commune, Binh Tan ward and Tan Hiep ward were the localities with the highest number of people examined. To date, 7 wards, communes and special zones have had over 30% of the population receive health checks, of which Phuoc Thang ward leads with nearly 60%.

In the opposite direction, there are still 14 wards with the rate of people being examined below 5%, the lowest being Ben Thanh ward. The Department of Health recommends that localities review the causes, strengthen communication and coordinate with medical facilities to speed up progress.

According to Mr. Thuong, the important task now is not to miss people who have been examined but have not been updated on the system. Localities are required to continue reviewing each household, recording cases of regular health checks at agencies, businesses, schools or medical facilities in 2026 to supplement data and complete electronic health records for each person.

Department of Health leaders said the program is entering a new phase, in which data quality is as important as the number of participants. When health examination information is fully updated, the health sector can stratify risk, proactively notify and guide high-risk people to medical facilities for early diagnosis and treatment, instead of only intervening when the disease has progressed.

Ho Chi Minh City’s population is currently about 14 million people.