Building a resilient, inclusive and people-centered NCD response

The year 2019 was a key one in Vietnam NCD Alliance’s (NCDs-VN) journey for many reasons. NCDs-VN recalls its contribution to the Alcohol Control Bill as one of its early advocacy wins.

NCDs-VN spearheaded a strategic advocacy campaign that aimed at collating scientific evidence in support of the bill, engaging communities to generate demand and support for the bill, and countering misleading messaging circulated by the alcohol industry. NCDs-VN engaged with a wide spectrum of stakeholders ranging from Ministry of Health and Ministry of Politics to media and communities; no stone was left unturned to support the passing of the Bill by the National Assembly. The Bill was passed in 2019 and civil society and community contributions to countering industry interference to the Alcohol Control Bill, facilitated by NCDs-VN, was appreciated by key stakeholders.

NCDs-VN launched its People living with NCDs Network during the Global Week for Action on NCDs in 2019. In the years to come, this network advised and guided work of the alliance and contributed to the development and launch of the Vietnam Advocacy Agenda of People Living with NCDs in 2021, built around four key pillars. Alongside the launch of the Advocacy Agenda, NCDs-VN engaged the network in advocacy around the amendment to the Medical Examination and Treatment Law. To support this work, NCDs-VN developed community-based evidence in the form of policy-oriented case studies, videos and interviews, which provided recommendations for policy makers to make treatment, care and medical insurance affordable and accessible to all.

To support this process, NCDs-VN organized training for 30 people living with NCDs to build their skills in developing a public narrative on NCDs, presentation, interviewing and storytelling. Thereafter, NCDs-VN facilitated participation of six people from the training in the policy discussions that fed into the amendment of the two laws. Also, 45 people living with NCDs provided feedback and inputs into the process, through videos and written comments compiled and submitted by Research and Training Centre for Community Development (former Secretariat, NCDs-VN), to the law drafting committee of the Ministry of Health. As an outcome, a recommendation that was provided by NCDs-VN and its network was included in the revised law, which provisions a role for ‘non-profit healthcare providers’ that allows for health service prices to be calculated based on standard and non- profit prices. This restricts the ability of private and state health care providers to raise the price of a health service, hence, improving the accessibility of medical examination and treatment for all people at all levels.

"NCDs-VN received letters of appreciation from the Ministry of Health and the Committee of Social Affairs of the National Assembly for its contribution to the Law on prevention and control of alcohol related harm. We enabled community participation and ensured that the voices of victims of alcohol harm strongly featured in the process leading up to this success. The law was passed in 2019 and was a critical milestone in the country’s journey towards addressing the rising NCD burden.”

Dr Tran Tuan, Director, RTCCD, former Secretariat NCDs-VN