Vietnam bolsters health partnerships to tackle COVID-19

speaks at the meeting (Photo: moh.gov.vn)

 Hanoi (VNA) – Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long and World Health Organisation
(WHO) representative in Vietnam Kidong Park on December 3 co-chaired a health
partnership meeting in Hanoi titled “ in
Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic”.

The event was held to
share lessons of Vietnam in battling the pandemic and discuss global trends in
seeking and accessing vaccine and new treatment methods, as well as preparations
for disease prevention in the coming time.

Delegates also touched
on models for cooperation and partnership in containing the spread of COVID-19.

Minister Long thanked
international partners for their support to Vietnam’s health sector and
collaboration to fight the pandemic, affirming that the country is ready to respond
to the coming waves.

Vietnam has gained
certain achievements in COVID-19 prevention and control and won international
recognition in the field, he said, affirming that health partnerships and
cooperation have a significant role to play.

Further cooperation in
seeking measures to set up the “new normal” is vital, along with maintaining
current preventive methods and carrying out cooperation in the development and
access to vaccine and new treatments, he added.

The Health Minister
said that Vietnam is working with partners on the supply of vaccines
to ensure people’s access in the fastest manner, in keeping with the Government’s
guidelines.

The country has also created
the best conditions for vaccine research and enjoyed positive signs in
pre-clinical trials, Long noted.

For his part, Park
pledged that WHO will continue its close collaboration with the MoH in the
coming time, and confirmed the effectiveness of Vietnam’s COVID-19 response
system.

He said the health
system needs to be ready to cope with new outbreaks, maintain essential health
services and protect vulnerable residential areas, among others.

Health partnership
group presented to Vietnam more than 290,300 personal protective equipment
(PPE), nearly 1.4 million face masks and 740 ventilators, which greatly
contributed to Vietnam’s efforts to tackle COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the
Ministry of Health handed over more than 2 million masks, ventilators, PPE, and
COVID-19 test kits to 22 countries and territories.

As the Chair of ASEAN
in 2020, Vietnam proposed the establishment of the Regional Reserve of Medical
Supplies and is actively taking part in the formation of the ASEAN Centre for
Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases (ACPHEED).

The US had requested
Vietnam to be the location of a regional office of its Centres for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), which was agreed by the Vietnamese Government./.