Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attends a ceremony to launch “Vietnam Health Program” (Photo: VOV)

 The launch was broadcast live in 63 provinces and cities nationwide. At the launch ceremony, Mr. Phuc extended his greetings and best wishes to doctors and health workers nationwide and underscored the responsibility of each person, family, and community to protect and improve public health.

Prime Minister Phuc underlined the importance of promoting sports and physical exercises in schools, offices, businesses, and throughout society. He called for greater use of public spaces for physical exercise.

“Starting right now, every person should begin following a healthy lifestyle to protect their own health and the health of their family and society. You should have a regular medical checkup and follow your doctor’s recommendations. You should have a nutritious diet, less salt, more vegetables, and no cigarettes or alcohol. The most important thing is regular physical exercise,” said Mr. Phuc.

The “Vietnam health program” supports the Prime Minister’s decision last September which set goals of reducing the rate of malnourished children under 5 to below 20% and the number of obese adults to below 12%. Other goals are increasing the average height of 18-year-old men to 1.67cm and women to 1.56cm, and reducing the rate of adult male smokers to 37% and alcohol drinkers to 39%.