Following the news that the Ministry of Health abolished the administrative procedures of issuing health examination certificates for drivers and periodic health examinations for car drivers, many people believed that taking a test or renewing a driver's license does not require a medical examination.
However, the Ministry of Health has just rejected this news. According to the Ministry of Health, it has sent a document to health departments of 63 provinces and cities nationwide and hospitals on guiding procedures related to health examinations.
The Ministry of Health requested heads of health departments and hospitals to disseminate the Ministry’s guidance as well as inspect organizations and individuals under the Ministry to strictly implement the provisions of the Law of Medical Examination and Treatment in 2023 in particular and related regulations in implementing examination and issuing health certificates in general.
The Ministry of Health affirmed that when taking a driver's license test or changing a driver's license, people still need to have a health check and produce a driving health certificate. According to the Ministry of Health, the abolition of the above administrative procedures does not mean that from now on, people don’t need to have a medical examination when taking a driver's license exam.
Explaining this, the Ministry of Health said that according to the old regulations, the procedures of ‘issuing a health examination certificate for drivers’, ‘periodic health examination for car drivers’ or ‘periodic health examination’ are considered administrative procedures. As per the new regulations (Article 2 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023), these procedures are no longer administrative procedures but a professional process and techniques implemented by medical staff.
