Three Vietnamese acupuncture centers named after President Ho Chi Minh in Mexico City, Monterrey and at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) continue to operate, serving as notable examples of bilateral healthcare cooperation.

Vietnamese specialists have examined and treated hundreds of thousands of Mexican patients while also teaching, exchanging professional expertise and training local personnel.

The programmes have a humanitarian and non-profit focus, including support for older people, low-income patients and others in difficult circumstances. Beyond providing health care, the acupuncture cooperation has also become a channel for people-to-people exchanges and stronger friendship between the two countries.

Building on these programmes, Vietnam and Mexico are seeking to strengthen personnel training, expert exchanges, scientific research, technology transfer and the application of traditional medicine in healthcare.

The priorities were discussed during a meeting in Hanoi on August 17 between Vu Manh Ha, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Health, and Alberto Anaya Gutierrez, General Secretary of the Mexicans Labour Party.

Ha proposed maintaining existing cooperation programmes, improve their quality and sustainability, and gradually expand their scale. He also proposed increasing training for Mexican doctors and specialists in acupuncture, expanding expert exchanges and organising training courses, scientific workshops and academic exchange programmes in both countries.

Training local personnel is seen as an important way to ensure the long-term sustainability of the cooperation, rather than relying mainly on periodic deployments of Vietnamese specialists to Mexico.

Alberto Anaya Gutierrez said healthcare cooperation between the two countries has considerable room for expansion. He expressed Mexico’s desire to strengthen cooperation in personnel training, scientific research, technology application, and the prevention and treatment of diseases through traditional medicine, alongside combining traditional and modern medicine.

Vietnam-Mexico healthcare cooperation was further strengthened following a visit by a delegation from Vietnam’s Ministry of Health to Mexico in November 2025.

During the visit, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on healthcare cooperation between their ministries of health, as well as a new cooperation agreement between the National Hospital of Acupuncture and the Mexican Labour Party, creating a basis for expanding cooperation in acupuncture, traditional medicine, training and expert exchanges.

In Vietnam, the Ministry of Health is developing a Strategy for Traditional Medicine Development through 2030, with a vision to 2045, aimed at further improving policies and mechanisms and promoting the integration of traditional and modern medicine.

Vietnam also plans to standardise professional guidelines and technical procedures and develop strong traditional medicine centers at the national and regional levels.

Vietnam and Mexico move towards new bilateral partnership framework

VOV.VN - Vietnam and Mexico will strengthen cooperation across a wide range of sectors and work towards establishing a new bilateral partnership framework, reflecting the growing scope of their relations and shared commitment to expanding ties in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America.