Minister of health Dao Hong Lan, 55, is from Hai Phong. She holds a master of economics and a bachelor of industrial production and business management. She is a member of the Party Central Committee for the 12th (alternate), 13th, and 14th terms, and a National Assembly deputy for the 15th and 16th terms.

Starting her career as a consultant at the Hanoi Youth Employment Promotion Center, she later worked at the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, serving in positions such as specialist in the social insurance department, deputy chief of office, and chief of office of the ministry.

She served as deputy minister of labor, invalids and social affairs from late 2014 for four years, then became deputy secretary of the Bac Ninh Provincial Party Committee. In 9/2020, she served as secretary of the Bac Ninh Provincial Party Committee for two years before being assigned to the central government as acting minister of health, and officially became minister from 10/2022 to the present.

Minister of health Dao Hong Lan. Photo: Ngoc Thanh

The Ministry of Health is a government agency responsible for state management in areas such as: preventive healthcare, medical examination and treatment, rehabilitation, medical assessment, forensics, forensic psychiatry, maternal and child health, population, traditional medicine, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food safety, medical equipment, and health insurance.

Recently, the ministry advised the Politburo to issue Resolution 72 on breakthrough solutions to enhance public health protection, care, and improvement. Accordingly, from 2026, citizens will receive free annual health check-ups or screenings, have electronic health records for lifelong monitoring, gradually reducing healthcare costs; health insurance coverage is targeted to reach 95%.

By 2030, the roadmap aims for basic hospital fee exemption within health insurance benefits, moving towards universal health insurance coverage and developing additional types of health insurance.

The Ministry of Health also developed and submitted the Population Law project to the National Assembly for approval. This law proposes financial support for women giving birth in areas with low birth rates and prioritizes access to social housing for families with two children.

In the coming period, a key task for the sector is to improve the capacity of the grassroots healthcare system to ensure people can access services at the lowest level, while also finding solutions to address the prolonged low birth rate nationwide.

Vu Tuan