State and future of radiology and nuclear medicine in Vietnam

Radiology in Vietnam was really established after Victory Dien Bien Phu in May 1954, which was the end of the war against French invasion. Along with development of health care, the system of community health care and the program of socialization of health care of Vietnam were developed, after the war against the United Statesin 1975. Radiology has grown very fast and nowadays it can meet most diagnostic imaging and nuclear medicine needs of clinical specialties. Health care in Vietnam in general: Vietnam is an ASEAN member with an area of 331,150 km2 and a population of 85.7 million. The number of physicians is 6.25 per 10,000 people. The estimated number of hospital beds is 25/10,000 people while governmental hospital beds numbers 19/10,000 people. Medical costs for every inhabitant is VND 499,300 (USD 27) /year. Radiology and Vietnamese Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Society in brief: after 1954, some hospitals in big cities such as Hanoi, Saigon and Hue had few X-ray diagnostic equipments for bone, respiratory, digestive system as well as paediatrics use. After the war against the United States and Liberation of Saigon in April 30, 1975, Vietnamese Radiology possessed some powered X-ray equipment ranging from 300 to 1000 mA and Xray-TV system in hospitals, provinces and cities. In some big cities, there were angiography equipment and planar gamma camera. Figure 1 Dr. Hoang Su, the first Vietnamese radiologist