Osteoarthritis is a chronic disease primarily characterized by articular cartilage damage. In Vietnam, osteoarthritis accounts for a high percentage of musculoskeletal conditions, especial-ly affecting the knee joints. Recently, slow-acting anti-osteoarthritis drugs, including glucosamine, chondroitin sul-fate, and diacerein, have been suggested as key pharmacologi-cal options for treating this condition. However, Vietnamese-language resources on these active ingredients remain limited. This article provides a literature review on the efficacy and safety of these drugs to enhance their effective use in clinical practice. Results indicate that glucosamine and chondroitin are both effective and safe for osteoarthritis treatment, as demon-strated by the data analyzed in this study.