Statistics from the National Tuberculosis Control Program reveal that Vietnam detected over 119,000 tuberculosis patients in 2025, accounting for approximately 63 percent of new community infections (a 5-percent increase compared to 2024).
The proportion of tuberculosis patients with bacteriological evidence reached 75 percent, reflecting a 3-percent year-over-year rise. The treatment success rate achieved an impressive 90 percent, surpassing the global average of 88 percent.
Nevertheless, the tuberculosis burden in the country remains tremendously high. HCMC and the Southern region record the highest number of detected cases nationwide, constituting roughly 60 percent of the country’s total. In 2025 alone, HCMC diagnosed and treated 16,148 tuberculosis cases, representing 14 percent of the national total and 23 percent of all cases in the South.
Pinpointing the underlying causes of the surging infection rates in HCMC over recent years, Deputy Director of the HCMC Center for Disease Control (HCDC) Le Hong Nga, MMed, explained that the disease is transmitted via airborne droplets and is entirely curable if detected early and the treatment regimen is strictly adhered to.
“Despite remarkable medical advancements in tuberculosis treatment, the emergence and proliferation of latent and drug-resistant tuberculosis are posing severe challenges to the healthcare system. Drug-resistant tuberculosis not only prolongs treatment duration and escalates costs but also significantly diminishes therapeutic efficacy, directly threatening the ultimate goal of eradicating the disease within the community,” Deputy Director Le Hong Nga stated.
Dinh Van Luong, PhD MD, Head of the Executive Board for the National Tuberculosis Control Program, highlighted that tuberculosis screening hasn’t been comprehensively integrated into primary and periodic health examination portfolios yet. Consequently, an estimated 40 percent to 50 percent of the population lacks access to adequate tuberculosis screening.
To rectify this glaring gap, it’s imperative to seamlessly incorporate the screening into routine health check-ups and annual free screening campaigns, as well as supplementing medical examination certificates and periodic health records with essential tuberculosis screening criteria.
Deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Health Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, PhD MD, stated that to alleviate the communal tuberculosis burden, the municipality’s healthcare sector is currently deploying a large-scale, comprehensive community screening campaign. This ambitious public health initiative strategically targets direct grassroots outreach across densely populated local wards, sprawling communes, and the special zone in the city.
"Intensifying this proactive, community-centric screening paradigm not only substantially facilitates the crucial early detection and subsequent management of afflicted patients but simultaneously serves as a preventative measure to comprehensively safeguard broader public health. This indispensable strategy is fundamentally steering our metropolitan populace toward the ultimate objective of definitively eliminating the scourge of tuberculosis within the foreseeable future.”
Deputy Director Nguyen Van Vinh Chau authoritatively informed
Contextualizing this urgency, according to the latest data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), Vietnam grimly recorded approximately 184,000 newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients, an alarming 9,400 highly complex drug-resistant cases, and a devastating 12,000 disease-related fatalities throughout the year 2025.
Alarmingly, this specific epidemiological mortality rate vastly surpasses the tragic fatalities directly caused by catastrophic vehicular traffic accidents, which stood at slightly over 10,000 documented cases during that same annual period. Vietnam currently holds the position of 12/30 nations grappling with the highest absolute tuberculosis burden globally, and precisely 10/30 regarding the highest proportional burden of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis strains.
Citizens are strongly urged to proactively visit authorized medical facilities for comprehensive diagnostic screening upon noticing any suspicious physiological symptoms. These manifestations include a persistent respiratory cough, rapid systemic weight loss, insidious low-grade evening fevers, or drenching nocturnal sweats. Adopting this vigilant healthcare stance preserves individual well-being and unequivocally plays a transformative role in cultivating a safe community.
