“One of the strengths of Siemens Healthineers is our passion for healthcare. We strive for improvement in healthcare sector, and help people get healthier,” said Fabian Martin Singer, Acting Country Head of Siemens Healthineers Vietnam about the reasons for pursuing the goal of improved access to world-class healthcare services in Vietnam.
As a leader in medical technology, Siemens Healthineers plans to cooperate with multilateral organizations to make affordable quality healthcare accessible to everyone, everywhere in Vietnam.
In your opinion, what are the opportunities and challenges faced by Vietnam’s healthcare sector today in accessing healthcare services?
Regarding opportunities, Vietnam's economy is growing quite quickly and stably, even during the COVID-19 period. As a result, the increasingly high living standard leads to a higher demand for better healthcare services in the country.
It is a fact that the number of physicians and medical professionals in Vietnam is always insufficient, however they are very competent despite limited resources. It’s simply because the number of patients they see every day is much higher than physicians elsewhere. For example, a doctor at a leading public hospital in Ho Chi Minh City interpreters about 50 CT scans or 700 X-ray scans per day. This number is 2-3 times higher than those in the US or Europe. As a result, they have more opportunities to detect strange diseases and collect more data, thereby finding cures and improving their capabilities.
Vietnam’s population is aging, which is both an opportunity and a challenge for the health sector. A rapidly aging population leads to an increasing incidence of cancers and other non-communicable diseases. Therefore, without a timely and proper preparation, this will become a threat in the future of Vietnam. Specifically, Vietnam’s healthcare system needs to transform to focus more on treating these non-communicable diseases.
So what does Vietnam’s healthcare sector need to prepare for this transformation?
It can be said that 99% of hospitals in Vietnam today are general hospitals. They have various medical specialties but lack specialized research and treatment centers for special diseases. In particular, we need more specialized cancer, stroke, or trauma centers to be installed in public hospitals in big cities. Singapore is currently receiving many cancer patients coming from Vietnam. It proves that Vietnamese people are able to pay for quality medical services, but they have to go abroad for treatment because the local system does not meet their needs. That is a huge loss of revenue for domestic healthcare sector.
Therefore, at Siemens Healthineers, we make recommendations for the public sector on the importance of a national oncology center and advise private investors on the benefits of building special treatment centers throughout Vietnam in the next 10-20 years. This is the time for pioneers.
So what role does Siemens Healthineers play in this future picture of Vietnam’s health sector?
As a medical technology company from Germany, Siemens Healthineers is not only a medical equipment supplier but also a professional healthcare consultant. We work with our customers in conceptualizing, planning, and executing projects to build intensive care centers.
In Vietnam, Siemens Healthineers has been a partner of nearly 90% of public hospitals, accounting for 40% of our customers, and the remaining 60% are domestic large and medium-sized private hospitals.
Thanks to all the strengths we have in advanced technology, hospital design - planning experts, maintenance services, financial solutions, and intensive training programs, I believe Siemens Healthineers can help Vietnam's healthcare sector extend access to world-class health services for everyone.
In your opinion, what are the decisive factors for success in Siemens Healthineers' strategy of expanding access to medical services in the Vietnamese market?
It is cooperation. In terms of expertise, a public hospital, an investor, or Siemens Healthineers ourselves, we all have our unique strengths. So to successfully complete a project, we need contributions from different parties.
In a cooperation project with Hanoi Medical University Hospital on breast cancer screening, we provide Transpara Breast AI solution and specialized training for radiologists in using AI for early cancer screening. However, we still needed professional advice from Radiology Across Borders (RAB) to set up and run study trials and provide in-depth clinical recommendations on mammography. The project has now taken anonymous mammograms for about 5,934 women, helping to improve the quality of early breast cancer detection while reducing workload and improving the skills of doctors at the hospital.
The operation and maintenance of these specialized medical equipment is quite expensive; therefore, to provide financial support to our customers, we cooperate with domestic banks as well as European banks to create flexible long-term loan and installment programs.
Could you share Siemens Healthineers’ vision and strategy to expand access to medical services in Vietnam in the coming years?
Our aim is to pioneer breakthroughs in healthcare for everyone under every circumstance. Many Vietnamese in rural areas do not have access to quality healthcare services and modern medical equipment due to lack of budget, infrastructure, and human resources. We look forward to closing that gap for local communities in Vietnam.