PROTECTING RESPIRATORY HEALTH - PRESERVING YOUR TEAM’S WORK PRODUCTIVITY

The value of a healthcare program is measured not only by the number of employees who attend checkups, but also by how well the program addresses the real needs of the workforce. When respiratory problems are not identified in time, businesses may face sick leave, declining performance and unplanned medical expenses. 
Join CarePlus in exploring solutions that help businesses proactively protect their team’s respiratory health in the newsletter below. 
1/ Notable figures on respiratory diseases in Vietnam 

• 132,000 cases of seasonal influenza in 2025. 
• 113,000 tuberculosis cases detected in 2024. 
• 24,000 lung cancer cases each year, ranking second in the number of deaths. 
• 4.2% of people over 40 have COPD, among the highest rates in the Asia-Pacific region. 
• 4.1% of people over 40 have asthma, yet only about 29% of them receive preventive treatment. 

Source: Ministry of Health, National Tuberculosis Control Program 
Respiratory diseases do not merely cause the inconvenience of ordinary coughs. They also reduce concentration, work quality and teamwork effectiveness, and increase employees’ sick days, leading to a situation where staff come to work but fail to perform at full capacity (presenteeism). 
So which risks do businesses need to recognize in order to proactively protect their workforce’s health? 
2/ From the work environment to personal habits: Factors affecting employees’ respiratory health 

• Exposure to urban air pollution: diesel exhaust, fine dust from vehicles, open-air charcoal grills, small-scale craft and manufacturing areas, etc.; secondhand smoke. 
• Occupational exposure: Dust, fumes and chemicals, etc., specific to each industry, can lead to occupational lung diseases. 
• Shared working and living spaces: Enclosed spaces, air conditioning, poor ventilation and close contact can create conditions for respiratory problems typical of office-building environments, such as rhinosinusitis, influenza and tuberculosis, etc. 
• Global climate change: Erratic weather changes can further aggravate respiratory diseases. 
• Personal habits and factors: Smoking (active or passive) and unhealthy lifestyles (sedentary habits, staying up late, lack of sleep) weaken the immune system, thereby increasing the risk of respiratory diseases. 

3/ How can businesses proactively protect their workforce’s respiratory health? 
The shift from “handling cases when employees take sick leave” to “proactive prevention” is receiving increasing attention in employee healthcare programs. According to CarePlus experts, businesses can build a two-tier strategy as follows: 
Tier 1: A prevention foundation for the team 

• Provide employees with sufficient knowledge to protect their respiratory health through timely updates on seasonal diseases and talk shows hosted by specialist doctors. 
• Get influenza vaccinations at the right time: usually in October each year. 

Tier 2: Screening by risk group 

• Stratify risks when designing periodic health checkup packages: The combination of workplace risks, weather factors and lifestyle makes respiratory disease a silent cause that erodes employees’ health. Therefore, businesses need to assess risks by job position in order to stratify and design suitable checkup packages. This approach is essential because standard general health checkup packages may not include respiratory screening items for certain risk groups. 
• Add in-depth screening for high-risk groups: for example, Low-Dose CT, the gold standard for screening lung diseases, especially lung nodules and lung cancer. 

Choosing the right and sufficient checkup items helps businesses allocate their healthcare budget according to actual needs, supports early identification of issues that require monitoring, and enables proactive planning of employee care. 
CarePlus partners with businesses, from periodic checkups to focused respiratory healthcare 
The Respiratory Department at CarePlus provides services for the examination, diagnosis and treatment of respiratory and lung diseases, etc., along with specialized screening packages, helping to detect early and effectively treat diseases that progress silently. 
CarePlus partners with businesses to build respiratory screening and healthcare programs designed around the specific nature of each team’s industry. Contact: corporate@careplusvn.com