Vietnam
Leading cause: Stroke · 85% plant-based · 75.6 yr life expectancy · UHC 71/100
What People Eat
Traditional Vietnamese diet — rice, tofu, vegetables, minimal meat — places the country among the most plant-forward in Asia.
Disease Burden
Leading cause of death: Stroke · 154 / 100k
Bars show each rate against the global range; the tick marks the world median.
Vietnam has among the world's lowest heart-disease rates (35/100k) on one of the most plant-forward diets in Asia, yet stroke (154/100k) is strikingly high, driven by salt, smoking, and undertreated hypertension rather than diet. Cancer and kidney disease are also significant.
Healthcare System
Sources: WHO UHC Service Coverage Index (SDG 3.8.1) & WHO Global Health Expenditure Database. Latest available year.
What Could Improve
- Cut dietary salt and expand hypertension detection, the key to the very high stroke rate, not the (already excellent) diet.
- Reduce smoking, a major independent driver of the stroke and respiratory burden.
- Protect the rice-tofu-vegetable diet from the processed-food shift accompanying rising incomes.
Explore the evidence: Stroke
Vietnam National Health Survey · 2020
→ 35 CVD deaths per 100k — among world's lowest