Nguyen Duy’s Journey to Champion Youth-Led Health Equity
From local advocate to global changemaker
A Young Leader’s Calling
At just 26, Nguyen Duy (he/they) is more than a medical graduate; he is a force of change in Vietnam’s health equity landscape. As co-founder of the Network of Health Students Vietnam (NOHS Vietnam), Duy has spent years amplifying the voices of marginalized communities, from underserved youth to minority populations. His advocacy journey took a transformative turn in 2024 when he became an AstraZeneca Young Health Program (YHP) Impact Fellow, joining a global cohort of leaders at the One Young World Summit in Montréal. This is the story of how a young advocate leveraged international platforms to drive local change and continues to shape the future of Vietnam’s healthcare system.
Bridging Medicine and Justice
Duy’s passion for health equity took root during his time at Hanoi Medical University. While training to become a doctor, he witnessed systemic biases that limited access to care: transgender patients facing discrimination, underserved youths deprived of sexual health education, and medical students feeling powerless to address these inequities.
“I realized medicine alone couldn’t heal societal wounds,” Duy recalls. “We needed advocates who could bridge clinical practice and human rights.”
In response, he co-founded NOHS Vietnam, originally known as Project Poseidons, a youth-led not-for-profit empowering health students to champion health justice. With his support, NOHS spearheaded initiatives like EMPOWER, a program aspiring to train healthcare workers to better support transgender patients and LGBTQIA+ community at large, thereby reducing stigma in clinical settings and health practices. Another notable initiative is "World Health Assembly Simulation," which offers health students a space to engage with policymaking process on issues like mental health and gender-based violence.
These efforts brought Duy recognition as a speaker at UNICEF and UN Women events as well as many local and national stages, but his ambition extended beyond individual projects. He wanted to cultivate a sustainable network of youth advocates who could drive systemic change. This vision led him to the AstraZeneca YHP Fellowship.
A Global Springboard
In early 2024, Duy’s relentless advocacy earned him a spot as a YHP Impact Fellow, a program dedicated to supporting young leaders advancing health equity. His application stood out for its emphasis on “building sustainable youth networks,” a concept he believed was crucial for long-term impact.
Attending the One Young World Summit in Montréal was a turning point. Immersed in an international exchange of ideas, Duy engaged with many discussions of world leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, discussing the future of AI, and listened to Margaret Atwood deliver a compelling keynote on the hope for the humankind. He found invaluable mentorship from Dr. Felipe Paullier, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, who gave him advice on leveraging multilateral platforms for advocacy. Among the most profound experiences was participating in the “Social Justice: Eradicating Violence Against Women and Girls”. There, Duy shared Vietnam’s struggles with gender inequality in healthcare and was struck by the similarities between these challenges and those faced by other advocates all over the world. “A delegate approached me afterward, and we realized our communities, though oceans apart, face the same battles,” Duy says. “That solidarity fuels my work.”
Returning Home, Turning Ideas into Action
Armed with insights from the Summit, Duy returned to Vietnam determined to empower youth to drive policy change. He collaborated with YHP in a consultation workshop about Youth-Friendly Health Services and helping adolescents to advocate for their healthcare needs. In one session that Duy faciliated, 15-year-old Minh, a high school student from Ha Noi, stood before Vietnam’s Ministry of Education & Training, urging policymakers to expand school-based counseling services.
Beyond policy advocacy, Duy turned his attention to menstrual equity. Inspired by discussions on gender equality at the Summit, he assisted Free Pads Vietnam – a grassroot organization in menstrual advocacy sphere, and became the lead facilitator of their first project that trains blind and visually impaired women about menstrual health and related societal injustice.
“The Summit didn’t just expand my mind—it expanded my belief in what’s possible, Now, every time I mentor a young advocate, I see a future leader who will go further than I ever could.”
Building a Legacy
For Duy, the milestones of 2024 are just the beginning. Looking ahead to 2025, he is spearheading multiple initiatives aimed at expanding youth advocacy in Vietnam. One such project is HerOwnChoice, a media campaign that combat gender stereotypes and advocate for reproductive autonomy. The project is implemented by HADEUS – the first-ever youth organization in Vietnam that commits to center youth’s roles in advocating for health equity. “We, no matter which gender, should support reproductive autonomy”, Duy stresses. “Let’s bring informed choices to the table.”
Recognizing the need for structural change in medical education, Duy is also working tiredlessly with NOHS Vietnam to co-design Vietnam’s first university-level curriculum on LGBTQIA+ health. By partnering with medical schools and LGBTQIA+ community partners, he aims to ensure future doctors and health workers are equipped with the knowledge and empathy necessary to care for queer patients. “Ignorance perpetuates harm,” he emphasizes. “This curriculum will save lives.”
His broader vision includes scaling the youth advocacy network to mentor over 500 young leaders across all 63 provinces of Vietnam. Through digital toolkits, peer mentorship circles, and national gatherings, Duy seeks to create a movement that will endure beyond his own leadership.
A Ripple Effect of Change
Nguyen Duy’s journey is a testament to the power of youth-led action. From advocating for health equity in Vietnam to speaking on global stages, he exemplifies how young people, when given the right tools and support, can drive meaningful change.
About the Programme
The Young Health Programme (YHP) is AstraZeneca’s global community investment initiative. It has a unique focus on young people and primary prevention of the most common non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart and respiratory disease, and mental and neurological health conditions.
Working with other expert organisations and combining on-the-ground programmes, research and advocacy, the YHP works with young people (10-24) to target risk factors such as tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and air pollution that can lead to these diseases in adulthood. Since 2010 Plan International has implemented the YHP in Zambia, Brazil, India, Kenya, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Colombia, Thailand, Egypt and the United Kingdom.
In 2023, the Ministry of Education and Training coordinates with AstraZeneca to implement the Young Health Programme for the period 2023-2025 through the Plan Intertermational Vietnam. The programme has been approved by the Ministry of Education and Training in Decision No. 1895/QĐ-BGDDT dated June 30, 2023.
