Health minister launches Facebook page

A statement from the ministry said Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien directly manages the page at https://www.facebook.com/botruongboyte.vn.

US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius (L) and Vietnamese Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien shake hands after inaugurating the Emergency Operations Center(EOC) in Hanoi February 2, 2015. Photo credit: Reuters

The ministry said there have been many pages purporting to be the ministry's or her Facebook page, but the address above is the only official one.

“Any health information from other pages are not trustworthy,” said the statement.

This is the first Facebook page of a Vietnamese minister. It was set up in late 2014 and has been posting medical reports from major local news sites and the minister’s website, botruongboyte.com, which was also set up last year for health tips and Q&As.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at a government meeting last year has asked officials to be more active on social networks, which have become one of the prime information sources in the country.

“We won’t be able to ban social networks. The important thing is we should provide more accurate, official information there,” he said.