“Your mom won’t wake up. I’m taking her to the hospital now.”

Before Tam’s dad could finish telling her what had happened, Tam was already frantically packing an overnight bag. She was fighting back tears so that she could look up which night bus to hop on to rush to her hometown, Sóc Trăng, from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), a five-hour trek that would seem like an eternity, to see her mom before it was too late.

By the time she arrived home, Tam’s mom had stabilized at the hospital. Tam was grateful that the worst-case scenario had not occurred. But the news the doctor delivered the next day made her despair with a whole new set of worries. Her 60-year-old mother had worsening diabetes and kidney disease, which had led to the metabolic crisis that sent her to the hospital.

Scenarios like this are all too common in Vietnam. Sixty-one percent of the country’s population is rural, thus chronic diseases often go undetected or unmanaged until symptoms of serious disease manifest, and people are only diagnosed once they go to the hospital for emergency care.¹ Much like rural areas of the United States, most of Vietnam’s population has limited resources and access to health care, which makes it difficult for people to detect diseases early, and also makes it challenging to manage serious chronic conditions once they are diagnosed.

One thing to be careful with when managing a chronic condition in Vietnam is making sure you are obtaining medications from a reliable source. According to Tam, government insurance covers the cost for medications on their formulary, but people generally have little trust in those medications that are usually imported from different countries such as China. Doctors report different efficacies for medications that are reportedly the same brand name, depending on where they are manufactured. As a point of reference, Tam said, patients pay approximately $75-$150 each month if they purchase their own medications to manage chronic kidney disease/end-stage renal disease (CKD/ESRD). If you can afford it, it’s best to buy medications out-of-pocket at reputable Western pharmacy chains or from trustworthy doctors, which is what Tam is doing for her mother.

Money’s Influence on Health Care

Tam’s mother might be considered one of the luckier ones. Her daughter is well-educated and lives in a large city with more resources, and thus, is better equipped to navigate the health care system in Vietnam.