Welcome letter

Dear Members,

We have just witnessed a major historical event, the Ministry of Home Affairs - Socialist Republic of Vietnam, signed Decision No. 729/QD-BNV, on June 11, 2021, to allow the establishment of Vietnam Vascular Disease Association ! (Vietnam Vascular Disease Association – VNVDA)

We would like to respectfully inform and congratulate the Association and all its members!

During its development history, the Vascular Disease specialty has been scattered among general specialties, such as internal cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, and diagnostic imaging; and common activities in corresponding specialized associations. But in the last 20 years, along with the rapid development of medical facilities, techniques, supplies and drugs used in the diagnosis and treatment of vascular diseases, especially the very in-depth understanding of physicians about vascular diseases in general, and each group of diseases, each type of vessel in particular (such as diseases of arteries, veins, vessels feeding the brain, main vessels, limb vessels, visceral vessels, arteriovenous bridges…). Therefore, the world has gradually formed Vascular Societies as well as various specialized vascular pathology associations so that vascular physicians have a private “playground” to share and learn from each other knowledge and experience in diagnosing and treating vascular diseases - a value that was not well expressed in the activities of previous general specialized associations.

Although they have the same goal of diagnosing and treating vascular diseases - with similar facilities and supplies; But the starting points of vascular specialists are not the same, in fact they mainly come from 3 main sources: intravascular, extravascular and interventional radiology - with very diverse perspectives and very basic specialties (internal medicine, surgery, diagnostic imaging). If they operate separately, each group will have its own advantages in its basic specialty, but will also lack a lot of support in terms of knowledge and experience from other specialties, so it will be difficult to bring optimal results to people with vascular disease as well as to achieve outstanding advances in science. Therefore, the current general development trend is to gradually blur the boundaries between surgery, intervention and vascular medicine…; to link more closely by disease, disease group, treatment technique group - for example: aortic disease, limb artery disease, carotid artery disease and cerebral vascular disease, visceral vascular disease (except for coronary artery disease, which is classified as a cardiac specialty).

Dear Members, in Vietnam, although it developed later with some unique characteristics, the Vascular Disease specialty cannot deviate from the common “track” of development in the world. Therefore, we can see that it is very necessary to build and form a separate National Vascular Association, thereby helping to gather all Vietnamese physicians who are directly or indirectly involved in the process of diagnosing and treating vascular diseases together, to share, learn from experience, understand and perform many different tasks in the work of protecting and caring for the health of Vietnamese people.

Based on practical requirements, and according to the wishes of many physicians in the field of Vascular Diseases - which are you, members of the Vietnam Vascular Diseases Association today, since mid-2019, we have officially carried out procedures to request to the competent authorities to establish the Vietnam Vascular Association (current official name is Vietnam Vascular Diseases Association). Having gone through many quite complicated processes, with many objective difficulties (Covid-19 pandemic), but with the outstanding efforts of the Association’s Campaign Committee, the active support of the secretariat (including the event organizing company VNC), and the extremely valuable encouragement of our members and colleagues, we have finally reached our first destination.

Our immediate task is to quickly complete the procedures to conduct the 1st Congress - accordingly, many documents will be approved, creating an official legal basis to put the Association into operation. In the long term, we will jointly implement many diverse, rich, in-depth activities (conferences, seminars, training courses, projects…) by disease and disease group at medical facilities nationwide, helping to bring practical benefits to each member, and through that improve the quality of diagnosis and treatment for vascular patients. In addition, the Association will complete other tasks assigned by the State and Society in many common tasks, such as consulting on policy development, professional and community support…

On behalf of the Association Establishment Campaign Committee - key members of the Association’s Leadership Board in the next few months, I hope that all members who have registered to join the Association along with future members, doctors, technicians, nurses, lecturers working in the field of Vascular Disease, have practice certificates, at hospitals, universities, medical and research facilities in Vietnam…; Together with the Vietnam Vascular Disease Association, we will strive to gather and link together to cooperate and support each other to improve our professional qualifications, contributing to the cause of caring for and protecting people’s health in the vascular field. We will join hands to build a growing Association, helping the Vietnam Vascular Disease Association gradually become a prestigious professional association domestically as well as regionally and internationally.