Today we are going to discuss the current health situation in Vietnam. In particular how it relates to pregnant women. We will cover the state of health insurance as well. We will try to find out if health insurance is a recommended thing to get in this country. Maybe it is a must-have, maybe you can live without it. Let us start with a description of life in Asia and work our way into this interesting issue step by step. We should be able to find relevant information for you to make a good decision regarding this topic. If you plan to move to southeast Asia, you may be aware that there are preventive actions to take, especially if you are a pregnant expat woman, a young couple and plan to have a child in Asia.

South East Asia : Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand

South East Asia is big. Quite big actually. When we usually mention about this region of the world, we cover countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand. It can be hard to just do a blanket statement about it. Especially the current state of health care and life quality. Life conditions are very different depending on the zone you find yourself in. We can use average data to get some basic conclusions. We will not cover this in-depth on this occasion, though.

This continent has been advancing very fast in terms of health and overall quality of life. This is expected to continue. Markers such as life expectancy are improving. This is going to have a big impact on the population.

There are two factors that are relevant to our discussion here, let’s talk a bit about them.

Infant mortality rate. This index measures the number of deaths within the population of 1-year-old infants or younger. As is the case with most health data in Asia this marker has improved. It is much better than it was less than 10 years ago. It is still very high, though. Especially in the lower-income sections of the population. This is not to be taken lightly. We will discuss the reasons for these numbers further down. Maternal mortality rate. Maternal mortality is very high in Asia still. It has dropped by half in the last few years. It still needs to drop by half again, compared against other continents.

These two factors alone can be a source of worry for a woman expecting a child in Asia and Vietnam in particular. Even if you are an expat, you will be facing same situations are locals such as pollution.

Infrastructure : Hospitals, Health Coverage

There is a serious infrastructure issue in many parts of the Asian continent. Although places like Japan are highly developed that is not the overall case.

Access to clean water and basic necessities is not well-spread yet. We estimate that over two-thirds of the rural population of this continent still has no access to clean water or sewage.

Controlling the spread of disease is very problematic in this kind of setting. Even if you are not living in a rural area. You will still be affected by the lack of overall health of the population.

This could put your pregnancy and newborn in danger. We will look at now at what is offered by Health insurance companies in Vietnam and how they work. Let’s try to find out if they can protect you and your child.

Because those countries are emerging, there is a new vietnam health insurance law that was lauched in 2019 to provide healthcare for everyone. Before, most of the companies hiring foreigners had to follow the rules regarding to the healthcare in vietnam 2018.

Expats living in SEA and specially Vietnam

You will find that the level of care in Public Hospitals in Vietnam is much lower than that of western countries. They are often understaffed and underprovisioned. This is a problem for a pregnant woman in particular. You should probably set up International Health Care if you are travelling to Vietnam, whether you are pregnant or not. Because costs like dental are very cheap in Vietnam, then you can consider buying a full package health insurance on only one dedicated for serious illness.

People from Vietnam and expats both have to pay for medical services. This is the case in Public and Private Hospitals. The level of care provided in Private institutions is much higher than its Public counterpart in Vietnam. That is the main reason why one of the first things to do when you arrive in your new city is to choose reliable health insurance in vietnam. The coverage may vary according to the price and refunds you may get at the hospital or clinic. Another advice is to go on the topic of health insurance vietnam reddit to get overall and answers like Wikipedia.

The local government is working on a universal health care system for the Vietnamese people, but that is not available yet. Even if it was it would not cover you as a foreigner.

If you decide to travel to Vietnam while pregnant it is very much recommended that you consider an International health care solution. If you choose to get local coverage make sure that you get treated on local Private Hospitals.

What insurance protects you from

You will be covered against the most common diseases that might affect you. This includes infections of all sorts. This is very important during pregnancy since you are more vulnerable to infections during this period. An infection could compromise your baby, even leaving lasting consequences to his or her development.

Of course, all the regular health checks will be covered too. This makes a big difference. As you may know, they are very frequent during pregnancy. This is done to ensure the health of your developing child. Having to spend on each check-up would run you a high bill in the end. It is better to have that covered from the start.

There are always some risks when it comes to newborns. They are vulnerable and need special care. Add to this that they will be born in a country where they will be more exposed. There are a lot of diseases that are under control in other parts of the world. This may not be the case in Vietnam. That is because of the factors we discussed above.

Having good health coverage will aid you in this regard. It will help prevent diseases by letting you avoid Public Hospitals. You will also get the vaccination as soon as it can be applied. This is an absolute must while in Vietnam.

You should have already vaccinated yourself when getting into the country. Your baby should get the same treatment as soon as possible.

Conclusion



We hope that we were able to provide an accurate landscape. The health care situation in Vietnam is increasing very fast, but not fast enough. You will be exposed to a few extra dangers to your pregnancy and newborn while there. Make sure that you resolve your health care coverage before traveling or as soon as you get there. This is not something you can afford to save on in your condition.