Ho Chi Minh City should strive to win a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Dinh La Thang, secretary of the municipal Party Committee, said on Friday.

Vietnam has yet to have any Nobel laureate, and members of the Ho Chi Minh City’s health industry should start aiming at that goal now, Thang said at a meeting with some 300 prominent doctors to congratulate them on their efforts and achievements in the medical field.

The meeting was held to commemorate the 63th anniversary of the Vietnam's Doctor Day, initiated on February 27, 1955 by late President Ho Chi Minh to honor the work of Vietnamese doctors.

“After this meeting, the city’s leaders will discuss with medical experts to form a special committee of elite doctors, including both working and retired ones,” Thang said.

“Members of the committee will come up with plans to achieve Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in the future.”

Thang made the statement in response to a question raised by Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, former director of the Tu Du Hospital and one of the city’s leading medical experts.

Speaking at Friday’s meeting, Dr. Phuong questioned the Party chief as to whether Ho Chi Minh City leaders are determined to invest vigorously in the medical field so local doctors and scientists can win a Nobel prize in the future.

According to Dr. Phuong, Ho Chi Minh City is blessed with a score of outstanding doctors, having in-depth experience and the potentials to carry out extensive and intensive research just like their peers in any other countries.

The only thing they need is necessary equipment, Dr. Phuong underlined.

“I think with aspiration and strong commitment, we will be able to achieve our goal [of having a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine],” Thang said.

“People present in this meeting will be the ones who make this happen.”

Dr. Phuong

During the meeting, Secretary Thang also congratulated on the many achievements of the municipal healthcare sector, such as having hundreds of mobile ambulances with better and modern equipment and establishing collaboration between private and public hospitals in order to share the necessary and costly equipment.

“We should try to make patients feel like they are visiting their loved ones or relatives when coming to see a doctor,” Thang requested.

At a separate meeting on February 21, Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the city’s health department, also asserted with high hope that Ho Chi Minh City has the potential to outperform Singapore in term of medical services if the local doctors receive better training and adequate equipment.

So long as Ho Chi Minh City receives sufficient investment and favorable policies, Binh can promise that the city residents "will no longer have to travel to Singapore or any other country for medical treatment."

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