Ho Chi Minh City, May 31 -- Ho Chi Minh City is pioneering efforts to expand access to quality healthcare by deploying doctors and extending hospital services to remote and island areas, as part of its push toward universal health coverage.

For years, residents in outlying and hard-to-reach areas had to travel long distances to major hospitals for treatment, incurring significant time and cost. To address this gap, the city has adopted a more flexible approach-sending highly qualified medical staff from top-tier hospitals to underserved areas while gradually strengthening local facilities.

In the Con Dao Special Zone, patients with kidney failure no longer need to travel to the mainland for dialysis. Since May 6, a newly established dia...