Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien is promoting a Facebook page to provide information about government and health policies and to gather public opinion about the sector.

Minister of Health's Facebook page

The minister will directly manage the page at https://www.facebook.com/botruongboyte.vn. The page is aimed at being providing an interactive conduit between the government and the public.

Created by Tien in late 2014, the page has provided updates on healthcare services and activities of the minister. Many people also visited the site to comment about doctors' attitudes, quality of health care services service and to ask about public health policies.

The Ministry of Health warned about copycat sites and urged users not to upload personal information, as the official site does not ask for such details.

Tien said she was often online after 11pm and had gained valuable insights from people's opinions about the health sector. She said comments on Facebook helped her ministry to find faults in the system, and to learn about wrongdoings by medical staff.

"I want to listen to complaints as well as innovative ideas from the general public and patients, especially if it's about hospital rooms and treatment," Tien said.

"Through the Facebook page, I'll share with people new policies, how the health sector works and the difficulties we have to face so the public can understand more about what we are trying to do. Some complaints I can act on, but others are outside my jurisdiction," she said.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged ministers last year to be more active in using social networks to communicate with the public and learn more about the nation's needs.