On January 26, the Hanoi Department of Health held an online conference at the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (Hanoi CDC) to review preventive healthcare work in 2025 and outline key tasks for 2026.

Participants at the Hanoi Department of Health hub included Deputy Director of the Ministry of Health's Department of Disease Prevention Vo Hai Son, Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Nguyen Trong Dien, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Vu Cao Cuong, leaders of the Hanoi CDC, specialized departments and representatives from local governments and grassroots health stations.

Reports at the conference showed that in 2025, Hanoi's disease prevention efforts faced major challenges due to complex developments in infectious diseases worldwide and domestically.

Thanks to early, proactive and decisive leadership, the city largely controlled outbreaks and prevented prolonged or widespread transmission.

In 2025, Hanoi recorded 6,628 dengue fever cases, with no fatalities. The disease appeared in 311 outbreak clusters across 83 wards and communes.

Communes and wards such as Thanh Oai, Dai Mo, Thuong Tin and Tam Hung reported high numbers of outbreak clusters. Surveillance results showed that disease-carrying mosquitoes remained widespread, mainly in inner-city areas and suburban zones.

For hand, foot and mouth disease, the city recorded 6,271 cases, also with no deaths.

Notably, the disease peaked twice, in April–May and September–October and showed an upward trend toward late 2025 and early 2026 linked to the EV71 virus strain. Wards and communes such as Tay Mo, Tu Liem and Vat Lai reported high incidence rates.

Measles cases also rose sharply, with 4,532 cases recorded, far higher than the 573 cases reported in 2024.

The surveillance system also detected scattered cases of other diseases, including 37 cases of pertussis, nine cases of Streptococcus suis infection, 31 cases of adult tetanus, four cases of meningococcal disease, three cases of Japanese encephalitis and more than 2,200 Covid-19 cases.

In response, the city deployed proactive surveillance measures in a coordinated manner.

Surveillance systems at 61 hospitals and medical facilities maintained reporting at least twice a week, enabling early detection and timely handling of thousands of suspected cases.

The Hanoi CDC consolidated eight mobile response teams to directly support 126 wards and communes following administrative boundary adjustments. The city also maintained more than 27,500 mosquito larvae elimination teams with over 60,000 members.

Over the past year, Hanoi organized more than 2,700 environmental sanitation campaigns, inspected over 97% of households, mobilized more than 120,000 participants and eliminated hundreds of thousands of water containers containing larvae.

The expanded immunization program met all targets, ensured vaccination safety and maintained high coverage rates.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Vo Hai Son praised the city's close coordination in providing healthcare for major events and noted that upcoming policy reforms would bring positive changes.

He highlighted that the National Assembly had passed the Law on Disease Prevention, along with the Politburo's Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW, creating an important legal framework.

Under these policies, the state will ensure regular budget funding for preventive healthcare and preventive health workers will receive salaries based on job positions.

This approach is expected to improve income and provide strong motivation for frontline healthcare staff, he said.

"The health sector views maximum investment in disease prevention as a fundamental and long-term solution. We are preparing conditions to strengthen training and human resource development in the coming period," Son said.

He also urged units, especially at the grassroots level, to proactively develop budget plans for 2026–2027 that align with the new decentralization model.

Outlining priorities for 2026, Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Deputy Vu Cao Cuong said the city aims to maintain strong disease control and prevent widespread outbreaks.

Hanoi will focus on improving intersectoral coordination mechanisms, reviewing decentralization regulations and removing bottlenecks in digital transformation.

"Management software at grassroots health stations must operate smoothly and stably. The city will also continue to study and propose spending norms for preventive healthcare to ensure sufficient resources," he said.

In his concluding remarks, Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Nguyen Trong Dien acknowledged the efforts of the entire health system.

He emphasized that after management responsibilities shifted to local levels, preventive and grassroots healthcare have become even more critical.

Given Hanoi's large population, pressure on grassroots healthcare remains heavy. Reviews by the Hanoi Department of Health identified overlapping software systems as the most significant issue, creating difficulties in reporting and management.

To address this, the director assigned the Hanoi CDC to continue its core role in providing professional support to lower levels.

Key priorities include integrating preventive healthcare software, cleaning electronic health record data and strengthening public communication to change health-related behaviors.

The leadership of the health sector called on all units to immediately begin work from the first days of the new year, with the spirit of "fast action, correct action, effective action", to firmly maintain the preventive healthcare shield and ensure social welfare for the capital's residents.