UK to help Vietnam fight against antimicrobial resistance

The 2021-2023 Partnership to fight against AMR in Vietnam between
the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH)’s Medical Service Administration, the
British Embassy in Vietnam and the Representative Office of GSK Pte Ltd in
Vietnam was signed on the occasion of the World Antibiotic Awareness Week.

This healthcare partnership aims to support the Vietnamese
government’s long-term strategy articulated in the “National Action Plan on ”,
and aligns with the initiatives of the UK Government to support developing
countries in solving the AMR problem.

“The National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance for
the 2013-2020 period and development of a strategy for the next five years are
among the most important focuses of the health sector,” said Assoc. Prof. Luong
Ngoc Khue, Director of the Medical Service Administration and Deputy Head of the
MoH’s Vietnam National Steering Committee for AMR.

“With the companionship of the UK Government and companies
in the health sector such as GSK, the fight against AMR in Vietnam will be
approached in a more comprehensive way. Ongoing medical training programmes for
healthcare professionals and awareness raising support, community education are
also planned to improve the effectiveness of fighting against this medical
burden”, he said.

British Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward said: “The UK is
committed to working with Vietnam on tackling health issues like AMR and we
have raised the level of ambition within our strategic partnership agreement.”

“Antimicrobial resistance is becoming a global health crisis
and we need to increase our collective efforts to address this challenge in
order to secure the health and wellbeing of our future generations.”

AMR is one of the world’s most critical healthcare
challenges. It is caused by the inappropriate use of medicines, for example
using antibiotics for viral infections such as cold or flu, or sharing
antibiotics; low-quality medicines, wrong prescriptions and poor infection
prevention and control also encourage the development and spread of drug
resistance. It is estimated that by 2050, the number of people dying from
could reach 10 million.

In Vietnam, the rate of AMR is among the highest in Asia,
causing thousands of deaths annually./.