Origin of Vietnam Doctors' Day (February 27)
Vietnam Doctors' Day, February 27, traces back to a specific historical event: on February 27, 1955, President Ho Chi Minh wrote a letter to a conference of health cadres. The letter was published in Nhan Dan newspaper on February 27, 1955. It was short, only 368 words, yet it set major directions for Vietnam's revolutionary healthcare sector.
It was not until February 6, 1985, that the Council of Ministers decided to designate February 27 every year as Vietnam Doctors' Day, aiming to continue following Ho Chi Minh's teachings and to raise the responsibility and talent of health cadres in national construction and defense.
Context in 1955
In 1955, the country had just gone through the resistance war against French colonialism, and the North was entering a period of socialist construction. The young healthcare sector faced many challenges: a thin workforce, limited facilities, and widespread disease. The conference of health cadres took place in that context, and Ho Chi Minh's letter provided strategic guidance for the whole sector.
Three core teachings in the letter
First: sincere unity
Ho Chi Minh wrote: “Unity is our strength. With unity we can overcome all difficulties and achieve many accomplishments.” He stressed unity between old and new cadres, and among all people in healthcare, from ministers and vice ministers, doctors and pharmacists to supporting staff. Although jobs and positions differ, everyone is a necessary part of the healthcare sector and of serving the people.
Second: love for patients
The letter states: “Patients entrust their lives to you. The Government entrusts to you the work of curing disease and protecting the health of our compatriots. That is a very glorious task.” He asked health cadres to love and care for patients as their own siblings, to feel their pain as their own. The saying “A good physician is like a mother” was reaffirmed as “very true.”
Third: building our own medicine
Ho Chi Minh noted that during colonial rule, medicine, like other fields, was suppressed. Now that the country had independence and freedom, cadres should help compatriots and the government build a healthcare system suited to the people's needs. Medicine should rest on the principle of “national and popular science.” He also noted that ancestors had valuable experience in treating illness with local and northern medicines, and encouraged research and combination of “Eastern” and “Western” medicine.
Meaning of Vietnam Doctors' Day
Honoring and thanking healthcare workers
February 27 is an occasion for society to show respect and gratitude to doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and all those working in healthcare who have devoted their strength and talent to caring for, protecting, and improving people's health.
A reminder of professional ethics
For those inside the sector, the day is a chance to review the glorious tradition and history of Vietnamese medicine. It also reminds each health cadre to raise responsibility, serve devotedly, and care for patients as if their pain were one's own, in the spirit of “A good physician is like a mother.”
Tied to the tradition “Luong y nhu tu mau”
The saying “Luong y nhu tu mau” (a good physician must be like a gentle mother) is the most frequently cited ethical standard of the Vietnamese medical profession. Vietnam Doctors' Day helps make that standard a spiritual foundation of the sector, alongside professional and scientific requirements.
Commemorations and typical activities
In 2024, the healthcare sector marked 69 years of Vietnam Doctors' Day (February 27, 1955, to February 27, 2024), which fell on a Tuesday. On the evening of February 26, 2024, at Ho Guom Theater in Hanoi, the Central Propaganda and Education Commission and the Ministry of Health co-organized a program honoring Vietnamese physicians and awarding the sixth “Silent Sacrifice” writing contest.
2025 marks 70 years since Ho Chi Minh sent the letter to the health cadres conference. Vietnam Doctors' Day 2025 falls on a Thursday. According to the Ministry of Health, the 70th anniversary ceremony is held at the central level at the National Convention Center in Hanoi. Related activities also take place in many localities and abroad, such as the 70th anniversary of Vietnam Doctors' Day in the Russian Federation.
Common forms of recognition
- Organizing ceremonies and programs honoring outstanding physicians.
- Awarding writing contests and contests about the healthcare sector.
- Meetings, visits, and congratulations to groups and individuals in the sector.
- Attaching project plaques to welcome the sector's traditional day.
Lasting value today
The three teachings in Ho Chi Minh's 1955 letter remain relevant: unity to overcome difficulties, putting patients at the center, and building a medicine suited to Vietnam's conditions and needs on a scientific basis while inheriting national experience. These are foundational directions that help the healthcare sector both advance professionally and preserve professional ethics.
